31 Jan 2013

Frank Schleck blasts doping ban

12:01 pm on 31 January 2013

The Luxembourg rider Frank Schleck will miss this year's Tour de France after he was handed a one-year backdated ban for failing a dope test during the 2012 race.

Schleck, who was third overall in the 2011 Tour, tested positive for the diuretic Xipamide following the 13th stage last year.

The Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency representative Raymond Mousty says the ban started from the day in mid-July that Schleck failed the test.

Schleck has denied knowingly taking a banned substance and has blasted his one-year doping ban as "too severe".

The 32-year-old will be eligible to compete again two weeks after the start of the Tour.

Schleck can appeal the sanction, which is back-dated to July 14, 2012, but if the punishment stands he will miss the 2013 Tour when it gets under way on the Mediterranean island of Corsica on June 29th.

Schleck maintains it was an involuntary contamination and says unfortunately the provisions of the UCI don't allow for that, but he did nothing wrong.