Cycling: The current team manager of the WorldTour Team Astana, Alexander Vinokurow and the ex-pro Alexander Kolobnev have to answer before a Belgian court on March 13, 2018. The reason for this is an alleged collusion in the Ardennes classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which was won by Winokurow at the time.
At that time, Vinokurov was said to be his competitor and fellow escapee Kolobnev in the final of Liège-Bastogne-Liège 100.000 euros if he lets him win the race. Both drivers denied the allegations several times. The media had already reported on the incident in 2011 and published the email exchange between the Kazakhs and the Russians as evidence. Meanwhile, Vinokurov threatened legal action.
In connection with investigations into the Italian doping doctor Michele Ferrari and his clients in 2012, two payments totaling 150.000 euros from Vinokurov's account to Kolobnev became known. A Belgian court in Liège then took a closer look at the transactions. In 2015, investigators in charge arranged for the case to be brought to court, after which the date for a trial was set for May 2017. Now the process is scheduled to start almost a year later in March 2018. Reasons for the delay are not known.