THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — German rider Stefan Schumacher was banned for two years on Friday after testing positive for a new blood-boosting drug at last year’s 2008 Tour de France.
The International Cycling Union said Schumacher was excluded from the sport worldwide until Jan. 21, 2011.
The penalty was announced as the UCI signed a new agreement with the French anti-doping agency to conduct anti-doping controls in races in France this year.
"He’s had a fair hearing," UCI chief Pat McQuaid told a news conference in Paris.
Pierre Bordry, head of France’s anti-doping authority, said the ban was timed for the start of a hearing in Schumacher’s case.
The 27-year-old German already received a two-year ban last month from French races by the French anti-doping authority. He said on his Web site Friday that he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"One thing is clear: I have not doped and I have nothing to hide," said Schumacher, who won two time trial stages in last year’s Tour. He could be stripped of those victories.
French officials say they found traces of blood-booster CERA — the apparent new drug of choice for some Tour competitors — in Schumacher’s blood in re-tests of samples taken before and during last year’s Tour.
Schumacher was suspended by Team Gerolsteiner after the result became known in September. His new team, Quick Step, then dropped him.
UCI said it notified the German federation of the global ban.
Schumacher said the UCI had informed him in a fax that the world body would adopt the French agency ban.
He complained that it did so "without examining the documents, without clearing up the inconsistencies and without a real hearing."
McQuaid said the UCI would also issue a ruling "within the next days or maybe weeks" in the case of Spanish cyclist Manuel Beltran. The veteran rider and former teammate of Lance Armstrong was banned for two years by France’s anti-doping agency after testing positive for EPO at the 2008 Tour.
Also Friday, the UCI warned five teams that they could be barred from the Paris-Nice race this weekend because they haven’t paid into a fund for a new anti-doping system.
McQuaid said the five teams — Cofidis, Bouygues Telecom, Caisse d’Epargne, QuickStep and Silence-Lotto — haven’t paid their dues for the new "biological passport" system.
McQuaid said the five teams won’t be able to start the first race in the UCI’s European calendar unless they pay at least a portion of the 120,000 euros (C$195,000) before "the close of business" on Friday.
The UCI said in a statement after McQuaid’s news conference that Cofidis and QuickStep had come through with the required sum.
Among team officials reached by The Associated Press by phone, Bouygues Telecom general manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau said "it’s out of the question" that his team won’t pay.
Francis Lafargue, spokesman for Caisse d’Epargne, said his team had anticipated paying in four quarterly instalments "like last year. So there is a misunderstanding… It’ll be worked out quickly."
"We can’t accept threats from Pat McQuaid," he added.
The Paris-Nice runs from Sunday to March 15.
Meanwhile, a French prosecutor has requested a one-year suspended jail sentence for Italian cyclist Dario Frigo after he was implicated in a doping case during the 2005 Tour de France.
A judge is expected to pass sentence on April 23, the court said on Friday.
Cycling has been looking to turn the page on a string of doping scandals that have rocked the sport. This year, seven-time Tour champion Armstrong is back on the circuit for some major races, including the Tour.
Asked about the prospects about a clean Tour this year, after a "pretty bad" edition when it came to doping last year, McQuaid said: "I think it will be a good Tour, it will be a good year for cycling overall."
"I don’t foresee the scandals on the Tour like last year," he said, before adding: "That’s not to say that there might not be one or two positives on the Tour."