Infamous doping guru, Dr Mabuse, says he is innocent

Bernard Sainz, often referred to as “Doctor Mabuse,” is an 81-year-old naturopathic practitioner repeatedly accused of promoting doping and practicing medicine illegally. He maintains that he has never broken the law. Despite facing multiple convictions for similar offences, Sainz is defending his methods in court as part of an “alternative vision” of healthcare, advocating for fasting, raw vegetables, and citrus fruits, according to Ouest France.

The trial is expected to continue until at least Thursday.

In 2002, Sainz was stopped for speeding in Belgium, where police found homeopathic medicines in his car. He admitted to visiting the late Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke, and a search of Vandenbroucke’s home uncovered EPO, morphine, and clenbuterol—substances the cyclist claimed were for his dog.

A long history associated with drugs

Sainz’s checkered past also links him to other high-profile riders, including Philippe Gaumont and Yvon Ledanois. Gaumont claimed Sainz only provided homeopathic treatments, while Vandenbroucke admitted using his services but expressed doubts about the substances. After serving time in Belgium, Sainz was re-arrested in France for violating restrictions, with syringes found in his office, although the case was dropped.

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He insists that he only offered advice, not illegal substances. In 2022, he was convicted to one year of home arrest with an electronic bracelet and is now appealing his sentence before the Paris Court of Appeal. He hopes for a reduced sentence, but his controversial past complicates his defence.

“There are doped cyclists who call me to stop doping,” he said. “If someone wants to dope, they don’t need me; everything is on the Internet.”

Simply a homeopathic practitioner, he claims

On his personal website, he says that, “For several decades, Bernard Sainz has been offering advice to top athletes, both French and international, across various sports. In particular, he has been involved in cycling and horse racing, achieving, to say the least, surprising results.”

It also describes him as a “pioneer in health and sport. A homeopathic practitioner, he specialized at a very young age in natural medicine therapies, particularly nutritherapy. He also goes on to say that he promotes “avant-garde principles in high-level sports.”

The case uses wiretaps that link Sainz to EPO and corticosteroids, which he denies, claiming he promotes only natural treatments. This isn’t his first offence—he was previously sentenced to two years in 2014 for similar charges after a 2013 conviction for doping in horse racing.

Sainz argues that he is a victim of “judicial bias.” He claims he has simply offered free advice that he believes could help ease hospital pressures. However, the prosecution highlights testimonies about the “Ibiza effect,” where some clients allegedly experienced performance boosts after following his recommendations. The term popped up on several occasions in the wiretaps.

“I have a different vision from traditional medicine; I treat the cause, not the symptom,” he said on Tuesday, adding that he gave the legendary Raymond Poulidor—another famous cyclist he worked with—”a second youth.”