ODENSE, DENMARK (VG) Just days before the start of the Tour de France in Copenhagen, the police have taken action against both riders and people in the support apparatus for Team Bahrain Victorious.

That confirms the Tour de France team on its own websites.

Also last year, Team Bahrain Victorious was raided by police. At the time, up to 50 police officers were involved in the raid, which took place in the middle of the Tour de France. The action at that time did not end with any penalty against the team or its riders.

The team reacts to what is happening now, and denies that it operates in violation of the doping regulations.

“The team experiences that the timing of this investigation is intended to deliberately damage the team’s reputation” it says on the team’s website.

Both riders and people in the support apparatus must have got the police at the door today. The raid takes place just three days before the Tour de France starts in Copenhagen next Friday.

Police must have cracked down on addresses in Spain, Portugal and Slovenia. According to the website Velonews, the action was coordinated by Europol.

– This tells me that the police are not happy with the answers they have received. And that they continue to look for evidence of something. The police obviously believe that they have reason to investigate further, says former professional cyclist Mads Kaggestad to VG.

He is now preparing for a more than three-week business trip to Denmark and France as a commentator for TV 2.

– Is this a bit typical of cycling: When everything has been calm for a while and no one has been doped, then it smells abrupt in the form of a scandal?

– The advantage is at least that if there is something to go after her, then the chance increases that someone is revealed, since it is the police who lead the investigation. And if they are innocent, then the chance to be cleansed is, says Kaggestad.

Bahrain Victorious writes on its website that last year’s raid comes after sporadic success in the Tour de France. The team had at that time noted down to stage victory.

.“After the team – without success – has tried to obtain information (about last year’s investigation, journ. Note), the investigators have decided on a new investigation just days before the most important bike race. It undoubtedly raises doubts about the purpose of the investigation » believes the Tour de France team.

The Bahrain Victorious team features profiles such as Damiano Caruso, Matej Mohoric, Dylan Teuns and Luis Leon Sanchez in this year’s Tour de France.