Cycling is preparing, albeit reluctantly, to return to courtrooms: the Pistoia Prosecutor's Office has concluded investigations that have focused on the professional cycling team Vini Zabù for over three years. At the conclusion of this complex investigation, entrusted to the Carabinieri's NAS in Florence, the preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Monday, September 29 at the Pistoia Tribunal.

The investigations began in March 2021, shortly after cyclist Matteo De Bonis tested positive in an out-of-competition anti-doping control conducted by the Italian Agency on behalf of the UCI.

While sports justice sanctioned the rider with a three-year suspension and the team with 30 days of suspension as this was the second positive case in a few weeks, the judicial investigation launched a broader operation that also involved team manager Angelo Citracca and sports director Luca Scinto, both under investigation. For De Bonis, the main accusation is the use of doping substances; for Citracca and Scinto, the alleged crimes involve aiding and abetting and managing doping-related practices, as well as conduct related to the so-called "pay-to-race" system.

But that's not all, because in the following weeks, the carabinieri received a confidential report from the Swiss anti-doping agency, Stiftung Antidoping Schweiz, arising from reports submitted through the whistleblowing platform: these reports spoke not only of prohibited substances but also of a system involving psychological pressure, harassment, and improper financial demands on athletes.

The collected testimonies were confirmed during the investigations: an organized mechanism emerged for recruiting riders who were without contracts or considered to have insufficient technical levels. Athletes were registered through a shell company based in Ireland, but only on the condition that they advance money or commit to returning part of their salaries. In some cases, as documented in the files, athletes were provided, always for a fee, with a professional license obtained through corrupt methods from compliant foreign federations, simulating residency transfers that never actually occurred.

From the documents, it emerges clearly that the "pay-to-race" was not an isolated episode, but a system designed to fuel two parallel drifts: on one side, the entry into professionalism of athletes lacking the necessary qualities, who were then forced to resort to doping to maintain competitive levels; on the other, the so-called "financial doping", with companies that, despite lacking resources for real contracts, managed to guarantee visibility and access to sponsorships. Crucial during the investigations was the collaboration provided by the International Cycling Union, which made available data and evidence to reconstruct the case.

A total of ten people have been charged by the Prosecutor's Office: seven athletes and a sports director for doping-related charges, three individuals for the crime of extortion in connection with the "pay-to-race" system.