Sinkewitz points to Klöden in German doping affair

Patrik Sinkewitz reportedly admitted to the German authorities that his former team-mates Andreas Klöden and Matthias Kessler were with present on a trip to the Freiburg University clinic before the 2006 Tour de France where he took part in blood doping. The German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said that Sinkewitz named both riders in a hearing earlier this week.

The 27 year-old German who accepted his one year suspension for doping this week was threatened with jail time if he failed to co-operate with the investigation of the Bundeskriminalamt (German federal police). The former T-Mobile rider tested positive for testosterone prior to the 2007 Tour de France, and was the subject of a larger investigation into suspected widespread doping practices on the team in the years prior.

The spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Freiburg confirmed that Sinkewitz was heard by investigators on Monday, but would not go further to reveal the content of the discussions. "I can confirm that Mr. Sinkewitz gave names, but for reasons related to the case, I can neither confirm nor deny the names circulating," said Wolfgang Maier.

Sinkewitz admitted to using banned substances during his professional career, but had until this week refused to name any of his other team-mates. Sinkewitz admitted to traveling to the Freiburg clinic prior to the 2006 Tour de France to receive a blood transfusion around the same time his team-mates Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla had been excluded from the race for being suspected of involvement in Operación Puerto.

Klöden, who currently is part of the Astana team, has been accused German anti-doping crusader Werner Franke of taking part in the blood doping during the 2006 Tour.