A Belgian court has cleared Alexander Vinokurov and Alexander Kolobnev of any wrongdoing and ruled that Astana's team manager lacked concrete evidence to show that he paid off the former Russian rider to win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege The court ruled.

Belgian prosecutors had sought a fine and six months' imprisonment for both former riders and the confiscation of a €150,000 bribe from Kolobnev's bank account. Both players denied the charges and their lawyers fought for their acquittal.

They led the hilly one-day race on the final day, and together they held off a chase by Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde, and then world champion Cadel Evans. Vinokourov attacked in the last kilometer and dropped Kolobnev in the uphill finish.

Allegations that Vinokourov bribed his rivals to win the Ardennes Classic began in 2011 when the Swiss magazine L'Illustré reported that Kolobnev had been paid by Vinokourov and published an email exchange between the two riders after the race It began.

Vinokurov later claimed that the emails could have been hacked.

"Here is a copy of all my banking information, please clear it from your mailbox or my balls may be cut off," Kolobnev reportedly said in the e-mail.

Vinokurov responded, "I am sorry, but I am not sure how to respond to you. As you say, the earth is round and God sees everything. So thank you again. I believe you will be the eventual champion this year. Don't worry about the contract.

L'Illustré showed Vinokurov an email exchange during Astana's training camp.

"There were no irregularities in Liège - Bastogne - Liège. I never did that in my career."

He admitted that he spoke with Kolobnev during the race, "But in a breakaway group, that is normal and not forbidden, right?"

He said.

Kolobnev retired after the 2016 season, and Vinokurov retired shortly after the 2012 Clasica San Sebastian.

Vinokurov was banned after testing positive for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France, but despite initially saying he would retire, he resumed his career in 2009, winning a stage at the 2010 Tour and going on to win the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and 2012 He also won the road race at the 2012 London Olympics.

According to initial reports in the Belgian media, the judge acquitted Vinokurov and Kolobnev on the grounds of three key elements: it was impossible to prove that any corruption took place during the race, the email exchange could be fake, and the defense team had to prove that the €100,000 payments were for real estate investments.

Vinokurov claimed that the final payment of €50,000 was a repayment to Kolobnev for a loan made by the Russians while Vinokurov was banned for doping.

"It is my private life," Vinokurov said during the investigation. 'It's another story to smear my name. I lend and borrow money a lot."