Vladimir Miholjevic says his Bahrain Victorious team are '100% transparent' following Europol raids
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Updated 29/06/2022 at 14:32 GMT
Bahrain Victorious Vladimir Miholjevic says he would like to know why Europol have raided his team prior to the Tour de France, stating that the reasons on the warrant - that he couldn't disclose - were "extremely funny". Miholjevic is preparing his group for the Grand Depart this Friday in Copenhagen. Stream the TdF live and on-demand on discovery+, or watch all the action on eurosport.co.uk.
Bahrain Victorious.
Image credit: Getty Images
Bahrain Victorious boss Vladimir Miholjevic has blasted the police raids on his team and demanded why they are happening just days before the Tour de France.
Riders and staff were searched on Monday by the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol), with the Grand Depart beginning in Copenhagen on Friday.
The activity has cast a shadow over the start of the 109th edition of the race, but Miholjevic - whose team were also searched during the 2021 Tour - claims his organisation has nothing to hide.
Speaking to Velo News, the Croatian said: “The searches passed well. Everything was said in our press release and we’re here more confident than ever. It’s really difficult to say what to expect. We’d like to know why they are doing this.
"We’re sleeping like babies and working like horses. We’re showing everything through our results and we are 100 per cent transparent.
"Someone who is interested to see how we are working can join our team for a period of time and maybe these people will understand the effort that staff and riders are putting in their jobs to achieve their results.
"Europol didn’t say what they were looking for.
"They just came, with warrants, and actually the reasons in the warrant are really funny. This we can’t tell you because we are still talking to our legal team on how to put that out.
"But you will see. It is extremely funny.”
A spokesperson for Europol was reported to have said of their investigation that “the action is ongoing and there’s nothing that we can say.”
Before Miholjevic's comments, Bahrain Victorious had said in their statement that it was their belief the raid was about “intentionally damaging the team's reputation".
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