Lotz gets 16,5000 euro penalty

Former pro cyclist Marc Lotz has been fined 16,5000 euro by a Dutch court which found him guilty of possession and trade in anabolic steroids and blood-booster EPO in 2005.

Lotz resigned from Quick Step in June 2005 after admitting the use of EPO. He was then suspended for two years by the Belgian cycling federation.

Another person, whose name was not released, was sentenced to five years prison and a fine of 275,000 euro for trafficking doping products on a large scale. The case stemmed from an investigation of a body-building studio in Lanaken. The other person in the case shared an apartment with Lotz, and provided him with prohibited products, according to the Belga press agency. EPO was stored in the apartment's refrigerator, where investigators found it during a search.

Lotz admitted that he was supplied with the illegal products by his friend and that they did not come from Team Quick Step. He also said that he had bought EPO at a pharmacy in Germany.