Quick Step Raids Just a Hoax?

by Chris... on Jun 7, 2007 10:49 PM EDT in News Comment 3 comments

Apparently further reports show that whatever went down today in Belgium, it was far, far less dramatic than what was reported this morning.

One staff member's home was searched, but no "doping or illicit products" were discovered in the residence. The police temporarily took possession of the soigneur's cell phone and computer, but after questioning, returned the phone. "Insofar as we know, there is no investigation into our team, and there is no reason for an investigation. Team Quick Step-Innergetic finds it regrettable that imprecise information which was disseminated today by authorities, was seized unnecessarily to compromise the reputation of our professional team."

From ten homes to one. From reports of finding copious quantities of illegal substances to, well, bubkis. This is looking like a bad, bad joke. Stay tuned...

Update [2007-6-8 9:44:10 by chris]: One theory as to why this mess started is Sunday's Belgian elections. Nice.

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The wonderful thing

is that this bogus-story got picked up by the cycling-ignorant swedish TV (like a lot of other mainstream media I presume) and we once again got some wonderful publicity for our sport with pictures of Boonen to illustrate the story of the drugbust. Great news for the recruiters in cyclingclubs around the country..........

Oh and that lazy kid Cunego has decided to take a vacation in July, I really thought he was going to do the double now that the Giro wasn't a success. Can't say he's doing the wrong thing, the Worlds-course seems ideal for him and it makes sense to chase the rainbow in a year when he has a good chance.

by Jens on Jun 8, 2007 7:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

13 people were detained

It's still hard to tell what really happened. What you quoted was QS's comment on their team's involvement in the raids, which turned up nothing. There were apparently other lesser known riders involved. Either the press sensationalized the situation or the Belgian government exaggerated the Quick Step angle, or maybe both. There's an election coming up, you know.

by ghisallo on Jun 8, 2007 8:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hard to say...

I'm a QSI fan, but I have to say I'm not at all convinced by Lef's denials. Part of me expects something to turn up, even though this case does seem to be arranged for maximum publicity at a very key time. Sort of like French TV reporters chasing Discovery/Postal in July. On the one hand, we all know that they are chasing ratings, on the other we all know that there is an excellent chance they'll find something whether refrigerator bikes or questionable medical supplies in the trash.

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