Cycling’s history has been re-written for the second time in a week after the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich a two-year ban.
The sanction relates to Ullrich’s involvement in the Operación Puerto scandal in 2006, which linked Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes to several high-profile names in the pro peloton.
Coming three days after Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title, Ullrich’s retroactive ban sees him suspended from cycling until August 2013, while all of the German’s results from May 2005 through to his retirement in 2007 have been annulled, including his third place finish in the 2005 Tour.
“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,” read a CAS statement.
Ullrich won the Tour de France in 1997, the final year before Lance Armstrong claimed seven consecutive victories. The 38-year-old Ullrich’s palmares also include the 1999 Vuelta a Espana title, road race gold from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and two World Championship time trial crowns.
