T-Mobile doctor investigation could last years

By Susan Westemeyer

The Freiburg University Clinic investigation of former T-Mobile team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich could take "one to two years," it has announced.

"I wish that it would be quicker," Matthias Brand, the Clinic's medical director, told the dpa press agency. "But I'm a realist, and believe that an independent investigation commission will need that much time.

Schmid and Heinrich were suspended by T-Mobile Team on May 3, in response to charges from a former soigneur that they had provided EPO to team members during the 1996 Tour de France.

The Clinic will introduce the members of the investigatory commission on May 15.