German T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz has tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, the German cycling federation (BDR) said on Wednesday.
The announcement comes at a time the team is recovering from a series of doping revelations by former riders for its predecessor Team Telekom.
Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has informed the federation that a test on a first sample Sinkewitz gave on June 8 had shown increased levels of the hormone, the BDR said on its Web site.
Sinkewitz, who pulled out of the Tour de France earlier this week with a broken nose and a shoulder injury after a collision with a spectator, could face a two-year suspension.
The BDR said it would write to the 26-year-old, who has been suspended by T-Mobile, and he would then have five days to decide whether to request a second sample given on June 8 be tested.
If that confirmed the positive result, the BDR said it would take the case to the federal court for sport and T-Mobile said it would cancel the rider's contract.
In a statement, Christian Frommert, director of sponsoring communication at Deutsche Telekom AG, said of the future of the company's cycling sponsorship: ‘After the Tour de France everybody involved will sit down to discuss the way forward in a calm and considered way.’
German state television stations ARD and ZDF said they would stop broadcasting the Tour until the results of the B sample were known.
Speaking to reporters before the start of the 10th stage of the Tour - a 229.5km ride from Tallard to Marseille - T-Mobile general manager Bob Stapleton said: ‘He is suspended and if the analysis of the B sample is also positive his contract will be terminated.’
Stapleton said the news was ‘extremely disappointing’ but underlined his commitment to the fight against doping, saying the increased testing was in the best interests of the sport.
He said: ‘We support the test procedure and we support the sanctions even if it is an athlete of our team. It's good to see that it (the fight against doping) works.’
UCI president Pat McQuaid told reporters he would wait for the result of the B sample before commenting, adding: ‘I think it is very unfortunate if this is the case.’
T-Mobile, who won the seventh stage of the Tour thanks to Linus Gerdemann have their own anti-doping programme, including unique blood volume tests that measure the body weight/blood ratio in order to detect blood doping.
German cycling has been hit by a string of doping confessions, including former Telekom riders Dane Bjarne Riis and German Erik Zabel's admissions that they used banned substances in the 1990s.
