Swiss Cycling to hold Ullrich proceedings

Swiss Cycling will hold proceedings on the doping charges against Jan Ullrich, the federation's chief, Lorenz Schäfli said in a radio interview with dpa/RUFA on Wednesday. The papers from the Spanish investigators have been reviewed, he said.

There are still a few procedural steps necessary before the proceedings can be opened, apparently. According to the federation's official statement, "The Puerto/Jan Ullrich dossier has been reviewed by Swiss Cycling and the Anti-Doping Committee. The Committee came to the conclusion that the dossier is complete and that certain portions of it must still be notarised. As soon as this happens, the dossier will be turned over to the Disciplinary Committee for doping case, so that proceedings can be held."

Ullrich's hearing will not be conducted by Gerhard Walter, the chairman of the disciplinary committee. Schäfli told www.radsport-aktiv.de that there could be a question as to his impartiality, as Walter had previously expressed opinions on the Ullrich case. The case will most probably be assigned to someone else, in order to avoid the appearance of pre-judgment.