Hondo - the never-ending story

By Susan Westemeyer

Danilo Hondo's attorney Michael Lehner has confirmed to dpa that the sprinter's ban is again in force. The WADA had announced the decision Tuesday evening. "I haven't experienced anything like this before in all my years in this profession," said Lehner. "The lifting of Hondo's suspension, which was announced on March 17, was struck down in a very quick hearing. We learned about it in a three-line statement from the court. There were no oral arguments." Lehner said the decision would be appealed to the next higher Swiss court.

Hondo finished 13th in the first stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt Wednesday. His only comment after the race was, "Leave me alone, I'm all in."

The WADA had said in its comment that Hondo was disqualified from racing as of May 16. When asked about Hondo's participation in the Bayern Rundfahrt Wednesday, race spokeswoman Dagmar Rohe told Cyclingnews, "We have no official UCI statement concerning Danilo Hondo. As long as the UCI does not give us any other instruction we cannot and will not exclude Danilo Hondo from the race."