Paris - The Paris public prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary investigation into doping after the discovery of a substantial amount of suspicious material during the running of this year's Tour de France, the daily Le Monde reported Tuesday on its website. Several teams are targeted by the investigation, including among them the Kazakh team Astana, which included Tour winner Alberto Contador and seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who finished third this year.
According to a judicial source, police from the Office Against Damage to the Environment and Public Health found "hundreds of syringes" and "perfusion material" during the running of the Tour.
The objects seized are now being analyzed to determine if they were used to administer illegal substances.
The course and teams for the 2010 Tour de France are to be presented Wednesday.
