Italian Professional Cyclists Association President calls to "put an end to these barbaric methods and this witch hunt" over Bahrain case

Bahrain - Victorious have been the subject of two pre-Tour de France raids, the first one days before travelling and in the homes of several of it's riders and staff, whilst the second took place in Copenhagen.

Cristian Salvato, president of the Association of Italian Professional Cyclists has issued a statement regarding the doping-related searched: “We don’t approve of the methods, the timing or the spectacle of the incident, which we read about in all the newspapers and heard about from our lads," he said. With Damiano Caruso one of the riders to have been home searched, it has stirred a reaction from the head of the ACCPI.

"For an inquiry to bear fruit, it should be carried out discreetly throughout the year, not simply like clockwork in the days of the Tour.” This comes after two searches organized by Europol, which has led to no conclusions that are publicly known - although it is said that there were some computers, hard drives and telephones seized, alongside almost 500 "unknown capsules".

“We don’t dispute the desire to fight doping by every means. Indeed, I would like to remind you that cyclists are the only athletes in the world who invest a percentage of their prize money in the fight against the doping and that with the whereabouts system, they accept limits on their own privacy and that of their families in order to ensure out of competition tests can be carried out. But we can’t accept that they come to be treated like this," he added.

“The ugliness of the past is in the past, today cycling is beautiful and clean," he said, a statement that has sparked some reaction from those who have experienced generations of doping-filled pelotons. "If somebody was doing the fool, they would be certainly caught, and all the sanctions are available to remove them from the sport," he argumented.

“I think we’ll hear this spoken about in the coming days. Let’s put an end to these barbaric methods and this witch hunt," Salvato concluded. Bahrain - Victorious are so far having a complicated race, with no results yet to show for and one of their leaders Jack Haig having abandoned the race due to a crash.