Fraud charges against Schumacher dismissed

Stefan Schumacher won't go on trail for fraud, a court in Stuttgart, Germany, has ruled. The Stuttgart public attorney had filed charges that by doping, Schumacher had defrauded Team Gerolsteiner.

Schumacher tested positive for EPO CERA at both the Tour de France 2008 and the Beijing Olympics. He served a two-year ban and returned to riding in August 2010. The 29-year-old, who has consistently denied doping, is racing with the Italian Continental team Miche this season.

“Fraud in a legal sense was not found," said court spokesman Lars Kemmner, according to the SID news agency, with “no damage existing” for Team Gerolsteiner. He added that there must be financial damage for fraud to have occured.

The German rider was “happy, of course” with the ruling, “even though I have pushed the case sort-of aside and fully concentrated on sport.”

Former Gerolsteiner team manager Hans-Michael Holczer was disappointed with the decision. “The case is closed. But it could have been a decisive step in the fight against doping, if a doper had been charged with fraud.”