AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Cycling Union is investigating allegations that Olympic champion Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan bribed a rival in order to win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege race.
The UCI says it “will ask Alexandre Vinokourov and Alexandr Kolobnev to attend a meeting at our headquarters in Aigle as soon as possible” to help its inquiry.
Vinokourov allegedly paid Russia’s Kolobnev nearly $200,000 after arranging a fix during their two-man breakaway in the April 2010 one-day classic.
The UCI says it has received information from an Italian prosecutor in Padua, who is leading a wider investigation of corruption in cycling linked to Dr. Michele Ferrari, a former adviser to Lance Armstrong.
The allegations were first made by a Swiss magazine last year. Italian daily Corriere della Sera published further details Saturday.