"His name was known in the peloton": at the trial of Doctor Mabuse, the odd doping practices before

It is the trial of other practices, we hope without having any certainty, and of another time that opened on Monday before the Paris Criminal Court. The man who is tried there is called Bernard Sainz. He is best known in the cycling community for his nickname straight out of a bad B series: "Dr Mabuse". The septuagenarian is tried for "illegal practice of medicine in a state of legal recidivism", "illegal practice of the profession of pharmacist" and "aiding and inciting the use of substance or method prohibited by athletes in the context of a sporting event in a state of legal recidivism ”.

At 78 years old, Bernard Sainz is retired and calls himself a “naturopath”.

Regarding the first part of his judgment, the illegal practice of medicine, the former damned soul of the peloton admits to providing "recommendations" to his "patients" and sometimes sells them, around 100 € of mysterious vials including it hides the composition.

"I never make a diagnosis," he argues without taking a single second to disassemble.

Among his "recommendations", there is often fasting but also in the case of a patient suffering from cancer to stop, "two or three days", he says, her chemotherapy.

At no time does Bernard Sainz falter at the bar.

The defendant under fine white hair and dressed in a suede jacket and beige pants defends himself above all with impressive aplomb.

The lawsuit follows a TV show

This new trial comes 5 years after the broadcast of the program "Cash Investigation" on France 2 and of an investigation published in June 2016. We see Bernard Sainz giving, in hidden camera, protocols of doping to cyclists. On France 2, we could see him seated in a Parisian brasserie disclosing his prescriptions to a runner via coded language, "vitamin D" for the corticosteroid "diprostene" (prohibited in competition), or the therapeutic plant "chelidonium" to say " clenbuterol ', a powerful anabolic agent. In another passage, he also advised taking EPO (erythropoietin), before setting prices, depending on the gains.

Even if it has always refuted this interpretation, the program had attracted the attention of the gendarmes of the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp).

"The name of Mr. Sainz was known in the peloton"

"The name of Mr. Sainz was known in the peloton", confirmed at the helm the former cyclist Loïc Herbreteau, now 45 years old. The former French amateur champion (in 2007) was suspended for six months for a positive control for heptaminol. He was subsequently dismissed for the offense of using a prohibited substance, but he is suspected of having put other runners in touch with Bernard Sainz. He himself is tried for "inciting the use of a prohibited substance or method in the context of a sporting event" and he does not overwhelm Dr Mabuse who remains his reference practitioner. At the helm, he explains that Bernard Sainz successfully cared for his two daughters "naturally". "I continue to follow his dietary advice",he maintains, acknowledging having taken "homeopathic drops" of "mother tincture" on the advice of "Doctor Mabuse".

A third defendant, Pierre-Marie Carlier, 56, is on trial for having put his son Alexis Carlier, a former semi-professional cyclist, in contact with Bernard Sainz "in order to improve his sports performance". "My son did not need to dope", supported Mr. Carlier by explaining at the bar that the advice of Mr. Sainz focused mainly on diets including "the great grapefruit-tomato diet". "I advise you," he said in court.

Former amateur rider, present in the world of cycling since he joined the Gan Mercier team as deputy sports director, Bernard Sainz has long maintained the reputation of a guru constantly flirting with limits but taking advantage of his good relations in the pack. In his defense, Bernard Sainz regularly highlights the care he lavished on great names in cycling from the 1960s and 1970s such as Raymond Poulidor, Cyrille Guimard or even Bernard Thévenet, double winner of the Tour de France (1975, 1977) . Later, he had also rubbed shoulders with the French Philippe Gaumont, convicted of doping and died at 40 after a heart attack, or Frank Vandenbroucke, the enfant terrible of Belgian cycling, who died at the age of 34 after a career marked by doping cases. and drugs.

After several trials, Doctor Mabuse was sentenced in 2014 on appeal in Paris to two years in prison, including twenty months suspended, in particular for incitement to doping and illegal practice of medicine.

In February 2019, the Caen Court of Appeal imposed a 12-month suspended prison sentence on him and a fine of 2,000 euros in another case in the semi-pro and amateur environment.

This new trial is scheduled in Paris until November 29.