UCI confirms Schumacher suspension

The International Cycling Union UCI has confirmed French anti-doping agency AFLD's two-year ban against Stefan Schumacher. Schumacher tested positive for EPO-CERA in last year's Tour de France. Because the race was not sanctioned by the UCI, AFLD carried out the doping controls.

The UCI has accepted the arguments of the AFLD and confirmed the sentence against the German, according to radsportnews.com, which cites reliable sources. This will extend Schumacher's race ban from French soil to a world-wide exclusion of UCI races. UCI president Pat McQuaid will host a press conference later in the day.

Schumacher has always denied the charges and is questioning the transportation of his A-sample, which traveled opened and with his name attached to the re-test. His initial test came back negative, but a new test for CERA was administered to several samples from the 2008 Tour de France. Schumacher's then-teammate Bernhard Kohl was also found positive and has since admitted of taking EPO.