Frigo arrested after substances found

The Tour de France rider Dario Frigo has been arrested after customs officials discovered suspected illegal substances in his wife's car.

The 31-year-old Frigo, who was lying 52nd overall at the time, and his wife, are being held without charges as police investigations continue. The Italian's wife was stopped in the Savoie region during a routine check. Ten vials were found in the boot of her car and are being analysed at a laboratory near Lyon. The products were described by one police source as "being small in quantity".

In 2001, Frigo was thrown out of the Giro D'Italia when lying second after drugs were found in his room. He was banned for six months then; now, the consequences may be far more serious. The Frigos face up to three years in prison if they are charged with importing illegal products.

For the Tour, still haunted by the scandal-ridden 1998 race, the story has echoes of the Raimondas Rumsas affair. On the day the Lithuanian finished third in 2002, his wife was arrested with a car-boot load of doping products.