Star cyclist Ullrich found guilty of doping
Germany’s most famous cyclist Jan Ullrich was found guilty of doping and stripped of his third place in the 2005 Tour de France by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday.
“Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 22 August 2011,” the official CAS statement said. “Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after 1 May 2005 until his retirement are annulled.”
The ruling does not affect his victory at the 1997 Tour de France.
The court in Lausanne, Switzerland, found that Ullrich was caught up in the doping affair surrounding Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Fuentes provided doping services to several athletes, and the court ruled that there was clear evidence that Ullrich had contact with him, and paid the doctor more than €80,000 for his services. The court concluded that Ullrich, who retired in 2007, was guilty of blood doping.
CAS dismissed all of Ullrich’s appeals related to procedure and to applicable law, and “expressed surprise” that Ullrich did not question the veracity of the evidence.
But CAS also rejected the International Cycling Union’s demand to have Ullrich banned from all cycling-related activities for life, “considering that the first doping offence that he committed in 2002 was due to the ingestion of amphetamines out of competition.”
The court, noting that by current rules amphetamines are only considered doping when ingested in competition, decided he was not a repeat offender.
The 38-year-old Ullrich has consistently denied all charges.
The Local/DPA/bk
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“Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 22 August 2011,” the official CAS statement said. “Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after 1 May 2005 until his retirement are annulled.”
The ruling does not affect his victory at the 1997 Tour de France.
The court in Lausanne, Switzerland, found that Ullrich was caught up in the doping affair surrounding Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Fuentes provided doping services to several athletes, and the court ruled that there was clear evidence that Ullrich had contact with him, and paid the doctor more than €80,000 for his services. The court concluded that Ullrich, who retired in 2007, was guilty of blood doping.
CAS dismissed all of Ullrich’s appeals related to procedure and to applicable law, and “expressed surprise” that Ullrich did not question the veracity of the evidence.
But CAS also rejected the International Cycling Union’s demand to have Ullrich banned from all cycling-related activities for life, “considering that the first doping offence that he committed in 2002 was due to the ingestion of amphetamines out of competition.”
The court, noting that by current rules amphetamines are only considered doping when ingested in competition, decided he was not a repeat offender.
The 38-year-old Ullrich has consistently denied all charges.
The Local/DPA/bk
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