Medicines and electronics seized following Bahrain Victorious raids, reports state

Medicines and electronics were seized following raids on Bahrain Victorious' hotel rooms, and the homes of staff members and riders, according to reports.

Danish Police searched the team hotel at 5.30am on Thursday morning, a day ahead of the Tour de France Grand Depart, on behalf of French prosecutors. 

The team said in a statement on Thursday morning that "the search was completed within two hours" and that "no items were seized from the team."

However, a statement from the public prosecutor's office in Marseille - published by AFP and repeated at France.24 - says that electronics and medicines had been seized. 

Referring to raids carried out across Europe between June 27 and June 30, the statement reads: "The operation, coordinated by Eurojust with the help of Europol, allowed the judicial and police authorities of those countries to carry out several searches at the homes of the manager, three riders, the osteopath, and a doctor of the professional cycling team Bahrain Victorious, as well as at the headquarters of WINNING SRL, the team's holding company. 

"Electronic material (phones, computers, hard drives) and medicines - of which the nature and origin remain undetermined, or which require a prescription - have been seized." 

The prosecutor's office statement added: "The items seized will be subject to analysis and further investigation."

The team did hold its press conference, ahead of Friday's opening stage of the Tour de France, on Thursday. However, the event lasted for eight minutes and was opened with a short statement and the confirmation that no further questions around the raids would be answered.

When asked about the effect of the 5.30am wake up call, performance director Vladimir Miholjević stated: "As we said we will only be taking racing questions."

Cycling Weekly has asked the team for a further comment on the raids, following the reports that items were seized. We will update this story should a comment be provided.