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Sinkewitz settles suit with former sponsor

By Susan Westemeyer

published 9 March 2010

German makes unspecified payment

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Patrik Sinkewitz also won the Combination classification(Image credit: Patrik Pátek)

Patrik Sinkewitz grabs a drink as the pace intensifies.(Image credit: Patrik Pátek)

Patrik Sinkewitz has agreed to settle a suit with a former private sponsor, which had sued him after his suspension for doping. The details of the settlement have not been made public.

Sinkewitz in limbo as time runs out

Förstina, a soft drink company based in central Germany, was a private sponsor of Sinkewitz and was running an advertising campaign featuring him when his positive test for testosterone was announced in July 2007. It sued him for more than 300,000 Euros in damages.

In January, a court in Kassel, Germany, suggested a settlement under which Sinkewitz would pay the firm 80,000 Euros. Although Sinkewitz has now agreed to settle the case, neither side would confirm what the final payment amount was.

“That is not the public's business,” Sinkewitz' lawyer Axel Scheld van Alt told the dpa press agency. “It only concerns the two parties.”

Förstina only commented that it was “satisfied” with the outcome.

Sinkewitz tested positive for testosterone at an out-of-competition doping control in June 2007. The news of the positive control was announced while he was in hospital after a collision with a spectator at that year's Tour de France. He was suspended and later fired by his team, T-Mobile.

The now-29 year-old co-operated with authorities and received a one-year suspension. Sinkewitz rode for the Professional Continental team PSK-Whirlpool in 2009, but is yet find a team for the current season.