Cycling: Marion Sicot tried for importing and possessing EPO

Former French cyclist Marion Sicot (32), tested positive for EPO in 2019 and suspended for four years in March 2022, will be tried on Wednesday before the Montargis court (Loiret), in particular for possession and importation of doping products.

Marion Sicot will be judged in particular “for acts of importing and possessing doping products”, namely erythropoietin, declared to the public prosecutor of Montargis Jean-Cédric Gaux.

Testing positive for EPO in June 2019 during the French Road Championships, the athlete was suspended for two years, a sentence increased to four years by the Council of State after a procedure lasting almost three years.

Publicly, the ex-cyclist, now converted triathlete, only admitted to an EPO injection in 2019. But according to investigations, facts from 2016 to 2019 were revealed, leading to his summons to court .

After initially denying the facts following the check, she admitted to having injected the product three days before the race, in the hope of performing well and regaining the trust of her manager, the Belgian Marc Bracke, of the Doltcini-Van Eyck team. She had described a phenomenon of “control” of the latter, from which she hoped to break away by obtaining a good result.

Marion Sicot had told the story, notably in her book entitled “Harassed, doped but back!” and published in 2021, having been sidelined from her team in spring 2019 for stopping sending Marc Bracke photos of herself in underwear.

But the cyclist’s complaint for sexual harassment against her former manager was dismissed in August 2022. Marc Bracke, suspended for three years by the UCI in connection with this affair, committed suicide the following October at the age 53 years old.

The athlete, who had indicated on her Instagram account that she had returned to competition in March after her suspension, is now licensed by the Châteauroux triathlon club and wishes, thanks to the trial, to “turn the page”.

“It’s the logical procedure,” she reacted in September in the regional daily “Le Télégramme”. “I paid with sporting justice, I think with the maximum penalty. I also had to pay criminally.”

“I know that I risk a suspended prison sentence and a fine, but for my lawyer, no prison sentence. No one likes to go to court, but I have no choice. After that, I will really be able to turn the page,” she said.

Marion Sicot’s lawyer did not wish to communicate before the trial, which begins at 1:30 p.m. before the Montargis criminal court.

During the hearing, “an acquaintance” of the ex-cyclist, who allegedly helped her administer the products, and a doctor, suspected of having illegally issued prescriptions for the purpose of prescribing drugs, will also be judged. EPO. The latter disputes the facts, according to the prosecution.

The three defendants face up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.