Bernhard Kohl
 Austrian bicycle racer Bernhard Kohl during the "Nightrace .07" in Waidhofen an der Ybbs on 24 August 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Bernhard Kohl |
| Born |
4 January 1982 Vienna, Austria |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climber |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 2002 | Elk Haus |
| 2003–2004 | Rabobank GSIII |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2005–2006 | T-Mobile Team |
| 2007–2008 | Gerolsteiner |
| Major wins | |
| Austrian National Road Race champion (2006) | |
|
Infobox last updated on 26 May 2009 | |
Bernhard Kohl (born 4 January 1982 in Vienna) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer and recognized climbing specialist. After the Gerolsteiner team announced they would not be in existence for the 2009 season, Kohl signed with UCI ProTeam Silence–Lotto for three years. His biggest career achievements include becoming the Austrian national road race champion, finishing third place overall in the Dauphiné Libéré and winning the polka dot jersey as the best climber in the 2008 Tour de France. He was 73 seconds behind winner Carlos Sastre at the completion of the event, finishing in third place in the General classification.
He was banned from the sport for two years after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in October 2008. On 25 May 2009, he announced his retirement from the sport, claiming that it is "impossible to win without doping" in international cycling.[1]
Doping
On 13 October 2008, L'Equipe announced that Kohl had tested positive for CERA (continuous erythropoitin receptor activator, a third-generation variant of erythropoietin, aka EPO) used during the Tour de France.[2] On the 15th he admitted his drug use.[3] His results were removed, but his third-place finish in the 2008 Tour and his Mountain Classification championship (polka dot jersey) have not been remade. If they ever are Denis Menchov of Rabobank would become the third-place finisher, while Carlos Sastre of CSC–Saxo Bank, overall winner of the Tour, would receive the polka dot jersey for King of the Mountains. The next day, Silence-Lotto terminated Kohl's contract with the team.[4] Several journalists had also nominated Kohl to receive the Austrian Sportspersonality of the year award, but he was removed from the contenders list.[5] On 24 November 2008, Kohl was banned for two years by the Austrian anti-doping agency (NADA).[6]
His ex-manager, Stefan Matschiner, was arrested on 31 March 2009 in Austria and charged with selling doping substances. Kohl stated that he was "not surprised" by the arrest.[7]
Kohl's results for the 2008 Tour de France have been removed in the official Tour de France results, but the definitive classification has not been published yet.[8]
Major achievements
- 2002 – Rabobank Continental Team
- (U23)
Austria National Road Race Champion - (U23) version – Rund um den Henninger Turm
- 2004 – Rabobank (Amateur Team)
- Tour of the Pyrenees
- 2005 – T-Mobile Team
First year as a professional
- 7th Overall Tour of Austria
- 2006 – T-Mobile Team
- 3rd Overall Dauphiné Libéré
- 2007
- 2008
- 6th Overall Bayern-Rundfahrt
-
3rd Overall 2008 Tour de France-
1st
Mountains Classification
-
References
- ↑ "Ohne Doping kannst du nicht gewinnen". radsport-news.com. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ↑ "Kohl a triché lui aussi". Lequipe.fr. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ↑ "Kohl admits doping". Bikeradar.com. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ↑ "Kohl dropped by team after failing doping test". The Guardian (London). 14 October 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ "Best climber caught". The Straits Times. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
- ↑ "Dopingverfahren Bernhard KOHL (Radsport)" (PDF) (in German). Nationale Anti-Doping Agentur Austria. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ↑ Kohl's Ex-Manager Arrested
- ↑ http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/docs/histo2009_06.pdf
External links
- Official website (German)
- Bernhard Kohl profile at Cycling Archives