Nibali 'disappointed' by Koren's implication in Aderlass doping inquiry

15.05.2019 20:16

Vincenzo Nibali is always a man in demand at stage starts on the Giro d’Italia, but his schedule was heavier than usual in Frascati on Wednesday, where he met with prime minister Giuseppe Conte and reacted to the news that his Bahrain-Merida teammate Kristijan Koren has been suspended following his implication in Operation Aderlass.

Early on Wednesday morning, the UCI announced that it had provisionally suspended Koren and Bahrain-Merida directeur sportif Borut Bozic after they were linked to the joint German-Austrian blood doping inquiry. Bahrain-Merida later confirmed that Koren had been suspended by the team and sent home from the Giro, where he was part of Nibali’s supporting cast.

Before Nibali could face questions from reporters about the fall-out from Koren’s suspension, however, his presence was required at the signing-on podium, where he joined the prime minister for a public question and answer session. Decorum, perhaps, dictated that Conte did not ask about Koren, just as Nibali did not ask about the instability of his prime minister’s coalition government.

After fulfilling his civic duties, Nibali was then ushered stage left to speak with RAI television. Given that RAI’s Giro pundit Alessandro Petacchi has himself been suspended by the UCI for his implication in Operation Aderlass, the state broadcaster was perhaps attempting to spare itself embarrassment when it neglected to ask Nibali about Koren’s suspension as part of the very same inquiry.

As Nibali emerged from the television mixed zone, however, he paused and briefly addressed Koren’s abrupt departure from the Giro. Koren joined Bahrain-Merida in 2018, having previously been a teammate of Nibali at Liquigas between 2010 and 2012.

“I’m disappointed,” Nibali said. “I don’t know anything about it. It’s an old affair of his, it doesn’t regard the team. He didn’t say anything about it to us. I’m disappointed.”