Local gendarmerie seized a bus from the Quick Step Tour de France team and searched it on Friday but officials said it was just a routine check while the team insisted nothing had been found.
"They came to our hotel in Challans and took the bus to La Roche-sur-Yon (about 50-km away) in order to search it," team spokesman Alessandro Tegner told Reuters.
Sports director Wilfried Peeters and the Tour police confirmed it was a random swoop.
"They came to the hotel and said it was for a random check," Peeters told reporters.
"It was just a routine control for the Tour de France and they said they could do it in the next few weeks for other teams. They looked everywhere in the bus and we worked very well together. Everything is alright."
The team released a tersely-worded statement saying "nothing was found during the search" and implying that they had been unfairly targeted.
"The team wants to specify that no other team vehicle underwent any searches. The team feels deeply harmed by the consequent media focus on what happened today, which we feel has damaged the team's image and the image of cycling in general," the statement added.
"The team asks also to the press to avoid speculation around the team and the team's riders that are focused on the race."
Team buses and hotels have often been searched during the Tour de France as the sport looks to clean up its act after a series of doping scandals.
The Tour starts on Saturday.
"They came to our hotel in Challans and took the bus to La Roche-sur-Yon (about 50-km away) in order to search it," team spokesman Alessandro Tegner told Reuters.
Sports director Wilfried Peeters and the Tour police confirmed it was a random swoop.
"They came to the hotel and said it was for a random check," Peeters told reporters.
"It was just a routine control for the Tour de France and they said they could do it in the next few weeks for other teams. They looked everywhere in the bus and we worked very well together. Everything is alright."
The team released a tersely-worded statement saying "nothing was found during the search" and implying that they had been unfairly targeted.
"The team wants to specify that no other team vehicle underwent any searches. The team feels deeply harmed by the consequent media focus on what happened today, which we feel has damaged the team's image and the image of cycling in general," the statement added.
"The team asks also to the press to avoid speculation around the team and the team's riders that are focused on the race."
Team buses and hotels have often been searched during the Tour de France as the sport looks to clean up its act after a series of doping scandals.
The Tour starts on Saturday.
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