Hondo loses appeal over drugs ban

Hondo won two stages in Murcia

German cyclist Danilo Hondo has had his drugs ban doubled to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Hondo had appealed against the 12-month suspension imposed after twice testing positive for the stimulant carphedon during the Tour of Murcia in Spain.

Cycling's world governing body, the UCI, and the World Anti-Doping Agency also appealed, seeking a longer ban.

CAS said in a statement that the usual two-year ban under UCI rules and Wada's code should be imposed.

The original ban was imposed by Swiss Olympic, Switzerland's sports disciplinary body, as Hondo has a Swiss racing licence.

That punishment would have allowed the 31-year-old to start racing again in 2006 on probation.

But the CAS statement said: "The results of the analysis (of Hondo's samples) could not be called into question.

"Accordingly, the presence of carphedon in the urine of Danilo Hondo was clearly established."

Hondo was fired earlier this year from Swiss team Gerolsteiner, but denied knowingly taking the stimulant, blaming his positive test on a contaminated water bottle.