Cycling:Retired former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been found guilty of doping in relation to a blood-doping scandal that engulfed his sport six years ago and has been banned for two years, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Thursday.
The Operation Puerto scandal broke in 2006, when Spanish police launched raids that uncovered more than 200 code-named blood bags, some of which were linked to cyclists.
Ullrich, who retired in 2007 after also winning an Olympic gold and silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Games, became the first German to win the Tour de France in 1997.
He had denied being involved in the scandal but CAS said that, based on the evidence, Ullrich, who had waited for more than five years for a final ruling, had engaged “at least” in blood doping.
“Given the volume, consistency and probative value of the evidence...the Panel came to the conclusion that Jan Ullrich engaged at least in blood doping in violation of Article 15.2 of the UCI (International Cycling Federation) anti-doping rules,” CAS said.
The decision comes three days after CAS banned another former Tour winner, Spaniard Alberto Contador, for doping.
CAS rejected calls for a lifetime ban for Ullrich, saying that despite a 2002 doping offence for amphetamines, this was essentially his first violation. They banned him for two years, starting August 22nd, 2011, the day of the CAS hearing. The court also annulled all Ullrich's results from 2005 until his retirement.