France’s Court of Cassation has overturned the lifetime ban preventing Bernard Sainz from carrying out any professional or social activity linked to sport or health.
Sainz, 83, known in cycling as Doctor Mabuse, received the prohibition alongside a two-year prison sentence in 2025 for illegally practising medicine and pharmacy. He was acquitted of aiding or encouraging doping.
The former trainer and soigneur worked with riders in both the amateur and professional pelotons. He also served as an assistant directeur sportif with Fagor-Mercier and Gan-Mercier, teams led by Louis Caput whose leading riders included Raymond Poulidor and Cyrille Guimard. The latest decision concerns the permanent activity ban imposed with his sentence. His convictions for illegal medical and pharmacy practice are unaffected by the ruling.
“The Court of Appeal violated Articles L 4161-1, L 4161-5, L 4221-1 and L 4223-1 by sentencing Mr Sainz to a permanent ban on carrying out any professional or social activity linked to health or sport,” the judgment said, “even though he had been acquitted of the offence of aiding and inciting the use of doping products, and the offences for which he was found guilty were not committed in the course of activities connected with sport.”
The 2025 sentence and doping acquittal
The Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Sainz on 16 September 2025 to two years in prison, including one year suspended. The remaining year could be served at home under electronic monitoring.
It also imposed a €20,000 fine and the permanent prohibition on sport- or health-related activities. Sainz was 82 when that judgment was handed down, following a six-day appeal trial held in March.
Prosecutors had sought four years in prison and a €75,000 fine. The appeal court convicted him of illegally practising medicine and pharmacy, but found insufficient evidence to establish the separate doping-related offence.
That charge concerned alleged assistance or encouragement to use prohibited substances or methods between 2013 and 2017. In its reasons for the acquittal, the appeal court described advice recorded in conversations as extremely vague.
The court also questioned the reliability of testimony from two cyclists. It said it had no evidence establishing that the recordings were complete.
Speaking to L’Équipe after the September 2025 judgment, Sainz’s lawyer, Hector Bernardini, said: “You cannot be entirely satisfied when you have sought acquittal on every count. But the acquittal on the doping aspect is highly symbolic. This was a case with no athlete who had doped and no doping products. It is a relief after almost eight years of proceedings.”
Sainz has since closed the website he used to promote homeopathic practices and withdrawn to a forested area of Normandy.
