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1997 Tour de France winner Ullrich banned

AFP — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:54:49 +0000

Germany’s 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has received a two year ban and been stripped of his third-place finish in the 2005 race for a doping violation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced.

CAS ruled that all of Ullrich’s results since May 1, 2005, be annulled.

The German, who retired in November 2007, thus sees his third-placed finish in 2005 Tour de France won by Lance Armstrong written off.

“The CAS has partially upheld the appeal filed by the UCI (International Cycling Union) and has found Jan Ullrich guilty of a doping offence,” CAS said.

“As a consequence, Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on August 22, 2011. Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after May 1, 2005, until his retirement are annulled.”

CAS added: “Given the volume, consistency and probative value of the evidence presented by the UCI, and the failure of Ullrich to raise any doubt about the veracity or reliability of such evidence, this panel is satisfied beyond its comfortable satisfaction that Ullrich engaged at least in blood doping in violation of Article 15.2 of the UCI Rules.”

The CAS hearing came about after the UCI appealed to the court against the Swiss Olympic Committee’s decision to halt an investigation into Ullrich’s past.

The Swiss Olympic committee, with whom Ullrich had a licence, had decided not to pursue the investigation about Ullrich, who lived in Switzerland, because the German resigned from the Swiss cycling federation in 2006.

Ullrich, the former T-Mobile lead rider, was linked to the Operation Puerto scandal in 2006 after samples of his blood were found during a police raid on Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes who was at the centre of a doping ring.

Ullrich has always insisted he is innocent and has never doped.

CAS saw it otherwise, however, with secretary-general Matthieu Reeb saying the date of May 1, 2005, had been “retained because it is established that Jan Ullrich was fully engaged with the doping program of Doctor Fuentes at least from that date”.

Apart from his 1997 Tour win and his third-placed showing in 2005, Ullrich also finished second in the world’s toughest and most prestigious race on five occasions (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003) and fourth in 2004.

Other principal victories Ullrich notched up were podium-topping showings in the 1999 Tour of Spain and the 2004 Tour of Switzerland, as well as claiming Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Games in the road race and silver in the time-trial.

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Article link: 1997 Tour de France winner Ullrich banned. Written by AFP, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

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