French court sentences 23 in doping case

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) – A French court sentenced 23
people on Monday to up to four years in prison for being
involved in a drugs ring that supplied a cocktail of
amphetamines known as “Belgian pot” to cyclists.

Belgian physiotherapist Freddy Sergant, who supplied the
drug, was sentenced to four years in prison. He has already
spent one year in custody pending the verdict by a court in the
southwestern city of Bordeaux.

The affair is one of many to have rocked professional
cycling, which is still dogged by doping allegations.

Last week the Tour de France was stripped of three of its
biggest names after Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco
Mancebo were implicated in a doping investigation in Spain.

French former professional Laurent Roux, who admitted
during the trial to taking banned substances throughout his
career, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, 20 of which were
as a suspended sentence.

“I think the sentence is relatively long and that I will
appeal the decision,” Roux told reporters as he left the court.

Roux’s brother Fabien, a former amateur racer, was
sentenced to 24 months in prison, of which 15 were suspended.
The Roux brothers have already spent eight months in
provisional detention.

“They want to sentence me and say everything is fine. I am
the only top-level sportsman to have spent eight months in a
cell for doping and I think that’s a lot,” Laurent Roux added.

The accused also included former mountain bike world
champion Christophe Dupouey, who was handed a suspended
sentence of three months in jail, and former professional
cyclist Eddy Lembo, who was given a suspended prison sentence
of 16 months,

Laurent Biondi, former assistant director of the AG2R team,
was given a suspended sentence of three months in prison.

Most of the accused, including Sergant and the Roux
brothers, were ordered to pay fines totaling up to 180,000
euros ($230,300).