Enlarge imageVIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl was handed a maximum two-year doping ban Monday by the Austrian Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after refusing to name the people who helped him cheat during the Tour de France.
Kohl, 26, tested positive for the new generation of erythropoietin, CERA, in retroactive tests carried out on samples provided during this year's Tour.
"He was asked where he got the substance and who helped him but would not give any answers," Austrian NADA chairman Andreas Schwab told Reuters after confirming the length of Kohl's ban.
The Austrian rider was the best-placed climber on this year's Tour de France and finished the race third overall.
The Austrian Press Agency reported that he was considering an appeal against the ban.
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Kohl was supposed to join the Silence Lotto team from Gerolsteiner during the close season but the contract was declared void after the tests came to light.
(Reporting by Mark Ledsom and Sylvia Westall; editing by Miles Evans)
