Kohl receives two-year ban

Bernhard Kohl received a two-year suspension this afternoon in Vienna for having used EPO-CERA at the Tour de France. According to press reports, Austrian Kohl did not have any comment on the sentence.

He had hoped that his full confession would bring him a reduced sentence of one year.

Kohl testified Monday morning for two hours and forty minutes at the House of Sports in Vienna. The Legal Committee of the National Anti-Doping Agency, under the direction of Gernot Schaar, immediately started discussing a suspension.

"I made my statement and was honest," Kohl said to the APA.

Kohl had finished third overall in this year's Tour de France and won the mountains overall classification. The French anti-doping agency (AFLD) re-tested his and other riders' Tour controls this fall. His blood samples returned two non-negatives from July 3, before the Tour started, and July 15, the rest day in Pau. He subsequently admitted to the use of CERA.

His teammate Stefan Schumacher also tested positive for CERA, but is fighting the charges. (SW)