Prosecutors sought two years in prison and a €30,000 fine against Bernard Sainz, nicknamed "Dr. Mabuze," for illegal medical practice and doping incitement.

On the final day of the trial at the Criminal Court in Paris on Monday, the prosecution explained that Sainz was no longer eligible for a suspended sentence due to his criminal record and also demanded a permanent ban from the health and sports fields.

Sainz's previous convictions include a two-year prison sentence (suspended for 20 months) in 2014, also for illegal medical practice and incitement to doping, and in February 2019, the Khan Court of Appeal sentenced him to one year suspended and a fine of €2,000. 2013, Sainz was convicted of doping racehorses in investigation into doping of racehorses, he was fined €3,000.

The case follows an investigation conducted by France Télévisions and Le Monde newspaper in June 2016, in which hidden cameras showed Sainz outlining doping practices to the riders.

Former junior world champion Pierre-Henri Lecouginier admitted to Liberation in 2017 that he was one of two riders who wore hidden cameras for the documentary Cash Investigation, which implicated Sainz

"I am afraid.

"I wasn't afraid, I just wanted to help put an end to the Mabuse system," said Luiginier. If there had been no trial, it would have all been for nothing. ......

Prosecutors are also seeking a suspended sentence of nine months and a fine of 5,000 euros for former jockey Loïc Elbrouteau, who allegedly put the athlete in contact with Sainz, and a suspended sentence of six months and a fine of 8,000 He has been sentenced to six months and a fine of 8,000 euros. Sentencing in the case will take place on January 17.

According to AFP, prosecutors said Monday that Sainz was a "danger to society" and sometimes encouraged "vulnerable members of society" to stop treatment prescribed by their doctors.

Saiz's defense argued that his client only "led people to believe" in the peloton that he was supplying doping products in order not to lose his reputation as a guru. Everything is based on hearsay," his lawyer Hector Bernardini told Ouest France and AFP (opens in new tab).

Sainz, 78, defines himself as a "naturopath" and has been associated with professional cyclists since the 1960s, with past clients including the late Philippe Gaumont and Frank Vandenbroeck.

His naturopathic activities became more widely known in the aftermath of the 1998 Festina incident, but he continued to frequent professional cycling despite repeated incidents during that time. In 2015, for example, Libération reported that Sainz was present at the starting village of Rivallo in that year's Tour de France, wearing accreditation (opens in new tab).