Judgment in Liège-Bastogne-Liège bribery case involving Alexandr Vinokourov delayed

The conclusion to the Liège-Bastogne-Liège bribery case involving Alexandr Vinokourov has been delayed by the courts.

A verdict in the case, which revolves around allegations that Vinokourov paid a rival €150,000 to let him win the Monument, had been expected on Tuesday (October 8), but the court has pushed the date back to October 22.

Beglian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reports that the case has been delayed because of “excessive workload.”

Vinokourov stands accused of paying rival Alexander Kolobnev to stop him contesting the two-up sprint in the final of the 2010 edition of Liège.

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Kolobnev, who finished second behind Vinokourov in that race, should have €150,000 confiscated from his Swiss bank account, the prosecutor said.

Last month, the prosecutor at a Criminal Court in Liège called for both Vinokourov and Kolobnev to be jailed for six months and fined €100,000 and €50,000 respectively.

Both 46-year-old Vinokourov, who is now general manager of Astana, and Kolobnev have denied the allegation.

Vinokourov is the winner of two additions of Liège, in 2005 and 2010, and also claimed the 2006 Vuelta a España.

He was banned for two years after testing positive for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France.

Vinokourov then won the 2012 Olympic road race in London, announcing his retirement as he collected his medal.

Since leaving the professional peloton, the Kazakhstani returned to Astana, the team where he spent much of his career, as general manager.

Kolobnev, 38, rode for Katusha from 2010 until 2015 and retired the following year while riding for Russian team Gazprom-RusVelo.

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Vinokourov continues to compete in sport at a high level, most recently becoming world champion for his age category in the Ironman 70.3 triathlon.

He took on the triple-discipline event on Sunday (September 8) in southern France, competing against the likes of British triathlon star Alistair Brownlee.

Last October he competed in the full Iron Man World Championships in Hawaii in just over nine hours, seventh in his division and 201st overall.