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(Edits, adds German TV ceasing Tour coverage, changes dateline) By Julien Pretot MARSEILLE, France, July 18 - 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 (www.rad-net.de). 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 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. German public television stations said on Wednesday 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. "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," he said. 'VERY UNFORTUNATE' 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. German state television stations ARD and ZDF said they were
ending coverage of the Tour for the time being after the news of
Sinkewitz's positive test. Nikolaus Brender, editor-in-chief of ZDF, said following a
meeting with ARD the two stations were pulling out until
Sinkewitz's case had been resolved. (Additional reporting by Iain Rogers in Berlin)
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