sinkewitz.jpgT-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz was temporarily suspended by his team after showing elevated levels of testosterone in a pre-Tour de France doping control. Sinkewitz is out of the Tour anyway after an accident in which he hit a spectator two days ago. The German TV stations, ZDF and ARD, have decided to stop televising the Tour immediately.

T-Mobile has had very bad luck in the Tour this year. Their leader, Michael Rogers, is out after crashing against a barrier several days ago. Sinkewitz is also out after colliding with a spectator. They are left with six riders and Burkhardt hit a dog yesterday but neither dog nor man was hurt.

Three days ago, teammate Linus Gerdemann said in an interview that this is a clean Tour and that the young riders (like him and Sinkewitz) are totally committed to cleaning up the sport. If Sinkewitz’s second sample tests positive, I expect T-Mobile to stop sponsoring cycling teams. The Tour and other cycling organizations have to take this seriously.

Floyd Landis got into trouble last year after winning the Tour when he showed unusually high testosterone levels.

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