Ullrich verdict set to be handed down by CAS on Thursday

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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced that it will hand down a decision on the case concerning the International Cycling Union (UCI), and Jan Ullrich on Thursday.

The UCI appealed the Swiss Olympic Committee's decision to close the file on evidence linking Ullrich to the Operacion Puerto doping case. Ullrich retired after being implicated in the 2006 investigation, and was later linked to blood evidence by DNA testing.

A finding was due to be announced mid last month however, the case was again delayed having been filed at the end of March 2010.

Ullrich, 1997 Tour de France winner and five-time runner-up, retired in February 2007 having been implicated in Operacion Puerto the year prior. In July 2009, Swiss Olympic, which handles doping cases in the country, announced that it was officially opening an investigation. But again, it came to a standstill. Until February 10, 2010, when they announced that since Ullrich had quit his membership in the national federation in 2006, they had no jurisdiction over him, and the investigation was closed. However, both the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it’s this case which is now due to be resolved.

Thursday's announcement will be the latest in the big week of legal cases with United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles close down a two-year investigation into allegations of fraud and doping that involved the US Postal Service Team and Lance Armstrong last Friday and then the CAS handing Alberto Contador a two-year sanction for his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France.