Bernhard Kohl
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 in 2006,[1] finishing third place overall in the Dauphiné Libéré and winning the mountains classification 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.
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 teams | |
| 2002 | Elk Haus |
| 2003–2004 | Rabobank GSIII |
| Professional teams | |
| 2005–2006 | T-Mobile Team |
| 2007–2008 | Gerolsteiner |
| Major wins | |
| One-day races and Classics | |
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.[2]
Doping
On 13 October 2008, L'Équipe 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.[3] On the 15th he admitted his drug use.[4] His results were removed, but his third-place finish in the 2008 Tour and his first place in the mountains classification 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 become winner of the mountains classification. The next day, Silence–Lotto terminated Kohl's contract with the team.[5] Several journalists had also nominated Kohl to receive the Austrian Sportspersonality of the year award, but he was removed from the contenders list.[6] On 24 November 2008, Kohl was banned for two years by the Austrian anti-doping agency (NADA).[7]
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.[8] In an exclusive interview with L'Équipe, the Austrian detailed how he "prepared" himself for the 2008 Tour and received blood transfusions from his manager during the event. The International Cycling Union 's (UCI) biological passport failed to prevent Kohl from practicing blood doping on a regular basis during his career, he said. "The top riders are so professional in their doping that they know very well they have to keep their blood values stable not to be detected".[9]
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.[10]
Major results
- 2002
- 1st Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
- 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm Under-23
- 2004
- 1st Overall Tour des Pyrénées
- 4th Circuit de Wallonie
- 2005
- 7th Overall Tour of Austria
- 2006
- 1st Road race, National Road Championships
- 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 5th Overall Tour of Austria
- 2008
3rd Overall Tour de France- 6th Overall Bayern Rundfahrt
References
- ^ "National Championship, Road, Elite, Austria (Men)". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "Ohne Doping kannst du nicht gewinnen". radsport-news.com. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ . Lequipe.fr. 13 October 2008. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ . Bikeradar.com. 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. 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.
- ^ (PDF) (in German). Nationale Anti-Doping Agentur Austria. 24 November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ Kohl's Ex-Manager Arrested[dead link]
- ^ Bernhard, Kohl (9 June 2009). "Doping Bernhard KOHL". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- Bernhard Kohl at Cycling Archives