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Totschnig charged with lying under oath about doping

published 25 February 2011

Austrian said to have received blood at 2005 Tour before stage win

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Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) in the hurt box (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

Former Austrian professional rider Georg Totschnig will be charged with lying under oath about his use of doping products. Public prosecutors in Vienna have charged him in connection with the doping case against Walter Mayer, the former national coach for the national cross-country skiing and biathlon teams.

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On September 14, 2009, Totschnig said under oath that he did not receive a bag of blood at the Tour de France 2005 from Gerlinde Mayer, Mayer's wife at the time.

Prosecutors believe that to be not true. According to kurier.at, Gerlinde Mayer took a bag of Totschnig's blood from the HumanPlasma blood bank and transported it to France, where she handed it over to the Austrian in the hotel car park while he was riding for Team Gerolsteiner. A few days after, Totschnig won the 14^th stage of the Tour de France, a difficult mountaintop finish at Ax-3 Domaines.

The Austrian, who retired after the 2006 season, has consistently denied all doping charges. However, Gerlinde Mayer has told investigators details of what happened, according to the Kurier.

Mayer is charged with numerous violations of the Austrian anti-doping law and faces up to three years in prison. No date has yet been set for his trial.