Kazakh Cyclist Investigated Over Race-Fixing Allegations

Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Vinokurov celebrates as he wins the men's cycling road race to claim the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games in July.

Kazakhstan's Olympic road-race cycling champion, Aleksandr Vinokurov, is under investigation for allegedly bribing a rival to fix a race.

The International Cycling Union (ICU) pledged on November 5 to open a probe into the revived allegations.

The investigation is starting because the ICU received a case file last week from an Italian public prosecutor who is investigating alleged corruption in cycling.

The allegations are that Vinokurov paid off his opponent in a two-man breakaway to ensure he won the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic.

Vinokurov won the one-day race by beating Russia's Aleksandr Kolobnev in a two-man finish.

Vinokurov is one of Kazakhstan's biggest sports stars.

He announced his retirement from the cycling right after he won gold at the London Olympics in August.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters