Vino stripped of Tour stage wins, Kirchen and Evans named winners

By Susan Westemeyer

Alexander Vinokourov is no longer the winner of stages 13 and 15 of the 2007 Tour de France. Following his suspension in response to blood-doping charges, his name has been removed from the records and the wins have been awarded to Kim Kirchen of Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile Team) and Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto (formerly Predictor-Lotto).

"Kim Kirchen and Cadel Evans have been informed by UCI, with two letters on April 8 and 9, that following the disqualification of Alexander Vinokourov they have been declared as winners of the 15th and the 13th stages of the 2007 Tour de France," UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani told Cyclingnews Tuesday.

The Luxembourg Sports Press Association released the e-mail letter to Kirchen, which read, "Following the suspension of Alexandre Vinokourov pursuant to an Anti-Doping Rule violation during the 2007 Tour de France I am writing to congratulate you on winning stage 15 of that event. Our records have been amended accordingly."

In the stage 15, from Foix to Loudenvielle, Kirchen finished second, 51 seconds behind Vinokourov. Stage 13 was a time trial, 54 km with start and finish in Albi, and the Kazakh rider finished an astonishing 1.14 ahead of Evans.

It was announced on July 25 that Vinokourov had tested positive after the time trial. Team Astana withdrew from the Tour and the rider was eventually given a one-year suspension.

Neither Kirchen nor Evans nor their teams responded to Cyclingnews' request for a comment.