Top German cyclist Jan Ullrich, Tour de France winner in 1997, has tested positive for an amphetamine while training after a knee operation. The news, which stunned a nation still celebrating Germany's bold soccer show at the World Cup finals, represents another big blow to cycling's badly tarnished image.
"I can confirm the (positive) test," Walter Godefroot, director of Team Telekom, told Reuters. He declined further comment. If the doping is confirmed by a second test, it will be another huge setback to Ullrich in what has already proved a tough year for the 28-year-old. In June, a court banned the Telekom rider from driving for a year after a drink-driving incident in May. He was also fined the equivalent of two months of his estimated four million euro ($3.8 million) annual salary.
Amphetamine is a banned substance and Ullrich would likely face several months suspension, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported for its Thursday edition. Ullrich's doctor, Karlheinz Birnesser, said he hoped the whole thing would turn out to be a mistake.
"It (doping) would make absolutely no sense in the current phase of his recovery, so I am keeping relaxed about the whole thing and hope it will turn out to be rubbish," Birnesser told N-TV television by telephone. "We are all shocked in Team Telekom," Birnesser added, echoing the mood of the country.
Ullrich has already pulled out of this year's Tour de France, due to start on Saturday, because of his injured knee.
Filed by Shane Murray
