Cofidis rider Guillaume Levarlet has been given a one-year suspended prison sentence "for involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol" in a traffic accident in which Arnaud Coyot died on November 24, 2013.

The court in Beauvais sentenced him to one year suspended imprisonment, meaning that he will not go to jail but will be kept in hourse arrest. The prosecutor had asked for eighteen months of imprisonment. He has also lost his driving license.

On Monday evenig Guillaume Levarlet was charged for homicide. The French rider was driving under the influence of alcohol when the car was involved in a fatal accident that cost former professional Arnaud Coyot his life at the age of 33. After leaving a night club, Levarlet lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a metal barrier.

In the Citroën Xsara, Levarlet was joined by Coyot on the front seat and Sébastien Minard (AG2R-La Mondiale) on the back seat. Severely wounded, Coyot died a few hours later in the hospital.

Levarlet (1985) made his professional debut in 2007 at the small Auber 93 team and then rode for Française des Jeux (2008-2009) and Saur-Sojasun (2010-2012) where he met Coyot. For the past two years, he has be wearing the Cofidis jersey.

Coyot was professional from 2003 to 2012 with Cofidis, Unibet, Caisse d'Epargne and Sojasun. The Frenchman decided to put an end to his career in 2012 after suffering multiple knee injuries.