Sinkewitz liable for doping damages

Patrick Sinkewitz, the former T-Mobile rider who was found positive for testosterone prior to the Tour de France two years ago, was ordered by a German court on Thursday to pay damages to one of his former sponsors.

A court in Fulda, Germany awarded 100,000 euros in damages to Förstina, a beverage producer which cancelled an advertising campaign based around Sinkewitz after his doping positive was revealed.

The company began its advertising contract with Sinkewitz in 2004, but argued that it had "invested money in someone who claimed to ride clean", but that the rider failed to live up to that image.

Sinkewitz' positive doping test also led to German television ceasing its broadcast of the Tour de France that year.

The German confessed first to using the drug during the team's training camp in France prior to the Tour. He then reportedly went on to provide testimony about previous doping experiences on his previous team, Mapei, as well as blood doping by the 2006 T-Mobile Tour de France squad.

He received a one-year suspension, and is set to resume his cycling career with the PSK Whirlpool team in the GP di Lugano this weekend.