Germany’s 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich received a two-year ban for a blood doping offence, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Thursday.
CAS also 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 the 2005 Tour de
France 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.”
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 raid on doctor Eufemiano Fuentes who was at the centre of a doping ring.