UCI say Sinkewitz cannot race in Croatia

Image 1 of 4

The UCI have confirmed that German rider Patrik Sinkewitz will not be allowed to race at the 2.2 ranked Istrian Spring Trophy that was due to begin on March 13.

Despite being banned last month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for eight years, Sinkewitz was lined up to start the race for the Croatian Meridiana-Kamen team. The race organisation had cleared him to race but the UCI later released a statement on the matter.

"As Patrik Sinkewitz was suspended for eight years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following its decision of 24th February 2014 for the presence of recombinant growth hormone (recGH) in a urine sample collected on 27th February 2011 during the Grand Prix de Lugano, the rider from the UCI Continental Team Meridiana Kamen Team, was today forbidden to take the start of the Istarsko proljece – Istrian Spring Trophy, a race on the UCI Europe Tour calendar."

Sinkewitz tested positive for the growth hormone at the GP Lugano in February 2011. He was suspended, but then the German Arbitral Tribunal overturned the decision and he returned to racing in 2012. The German Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) took the case to the CAS, who slapped him with the eight-year ban.

The German rider is no stranger to doping related suspensions. Ahead of the 2007 Tour de France, he tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone. The results of the test didn’t come out until after the race had started, but he didn’t begin it after colliding with a spectator. Sinkewitz refused to have his B sample tested and was sacked by T-Mobile. He was banned for a year, and later admitted to taking a testosterone ointment called Testogel, EPO and using blood transfusions. This previous ban is the reason for the eight years handed to him by the CAS.

Sinkewitz joined Meridiana-Kamen in 2012, after two years on the Farnese Vini team. Last season he took two stage wins, the point’s and mountain’s classification, and the overall classification at the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda. Three days before he was handed his lengthy suspension, Sinkewitz finished second at the Trofeo Laigueglia.