Disgraced Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl on Wednesday vowed to sue French sport daily L’Equipe after they published an interview with him in which he spoke about doping at last year’s Tour de France.
Kohl, who was stripped of his third-place finish and the best climber’s jersey after testing positive for EPO CERA, denies claiming that the race’s top 10 cyclists “could have been positive” or that it was strange that only three cyclists failed post-race drug tests.
The interview ran on Tuesday and prompted Professional Cyclists Association (CPA) president Cedric Vasseur to denounce Kohl’s “serious accusations.”
Vasseur said that the Austrian cyclist’s claims “could not go unanswered.”
Kohl on Wednesday said that he had really said: “I think that top performances in high-level sport, like in the Tour de France, are difficult to understand without doping.”
CLIMBING EVEREST
“It’s enough to look at the Tour de France. We race for three weeks at top speeds of 40km per hour and climb the equivalent of Everest five times,” he added.
The 27-year-old announced his retirement from cycling last month after being handed a two-year suspension.
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