Jan Ullrich admitted his involvement in the Operacion Puerto
Court of Arbitration for Sport handed a two-year ban to the German professional cyclist, Jan Ullrich yesterday.
The cyclist reacted to the CAS decision, which also disqualifies him from all the victories since the Tour de France 2005 through his personal website.
Ullrich explained that he will not appeal against the decision, "Not because I agree with all points in the court's opinion, but because I want to finish the issue definitively", he briefed.
The 38-year-old was accused of blood doping as his name appeared in Operacion Puerto back in 2006.
He was immediately suspended by Team T-Mobile just before the start of the Tour de France but was freed from the charges later on.
Jan announced his retirement in 2007 and it was revealed the same year that a DNA test related to the Operacion Puerto matched his blood samples.
The court came to a conclusion that the cyclist violated the article 15.2 of the UCI Anti-Doping rules and was involved in blood doping breaches.
Ullrich today admitted that he was in contact with Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, the mastermind behind the Operacion Puerto.
He admitted, "I know that that was a big mistake that I regret very much. For this behavior, I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone - I'm very sorry. Looking back, I would act in certain situations during my career differently".
Jan participated in a maximum number of 11 Grand Tours, with two Giros, eight Tours and one Vuelta a Espana participation under his belt.
He claimed an overall victory at the Tour de France 1997 and also at the Vuelta a Espana 1999.
He has now been disqualified from a number of performances including the third overall finish at the Tour de France and the Tour de Suisse 2005.
Jan’s superb performance at the Tour de Suisse 2006 including a stage 9 win has also become invalid after the court made the ruling against him.
Earlier this week, Spanish cycling star Alberto Contador was handed a two-year-ban by CAS, which prevents him from riding until August 2012.
The ban imposed on both the cyclists is a clear indication that CAS will leave no stones unturned to ensure the sport is free from all the unfair means.
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