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Austria cyclist Kohl tests positive for EPO Cera

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-14 11:12

PARIS -- Austria sensational cyclist Bernhard Kohl, the best climber at this year's Tour de France and third overall, has tested positive for third-generation drug EPO Cera, the website of sports newspaper L'Equipe reported on Monday.

Gerolsteiner team rider Bernhard Kohl of Austria cycles during the fifteenth stage of the 95th Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Prato Nevoso July 20, 2008. [Agencies]

Kohl is the fourth rider to have been found positive for this drug by France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD), which has since July pioneered a new blood test for Cera and is currently retroactively testing blood samples of riders during the 2008 race.

Italians Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli, plus Germany's Stefan Schumacher were the previous riders to have tested positive for Cera (Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator).

The 26-year-old Gerolsteiner rider caused a sensation in July when he managed to get on to the overall podium at the Grand Boucle. Until then, his best career performance had been third spot at the 2006 Criterium Dauphine.