Illness triggers false 'abnormality' for Schumacher
Stefan Schumacher took bronze in Sunday's elite men's race at the world road championships after having been cleared of a doping suspicion just two days before, it was disclosed on Monday.
The German cycling federation (BDR) announced that the 26-year-old had come under suspicion after an abnormal result when tested in training last Tuesday, according to a report by German agency SID.
A second test by the UCI on Friday showed the same abnormalities, but doctors confirmed the result was due to illness rather than doping.
It shows the level of tension generated by a failed drugs test in the cycling community that the German federation felt compelled to clarify the incident after a summer blighted by scandal.
"It was great to get a bronze in front of my home crowd, they were superb and really made the difference for me," said Schumacher. "When Paolo [Bettini] charged for the line, I just didn't have enough power left in my legs to beat him so I hung on for a medal and luckily it paid off."
Nevertheless, Stuttgart's 2007 world road-race championships were fraught with controversy.
The organizers had suggested that Germany's Erik Zabel, the 2006 silver medalist, should have been prevented from racing after his admission in May that he used banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) during the 1996 Tour de France.
Bettini, meanwhile, found himself accused by German television station ZDF or providing doping products to former teammate Patrik Sinkewitz, an allegation he intends to take legal advice over.
Organizers tried to bar him from the competition, too, because he would not sign an anti-doping agreement to provide a compulsory blood sample. The Italian only got the all-clear to defend his crown two days before the race.
Schumacher was unfazed by Bettini's recalcitrance.
"Some riders are not happy with Bettini's refusal to sign," he said. "But the obligation to pay back your annual salary in the event of a positive doping test to the UCI is a high price, especially when there can be errors made in the testing procedure.
"On that basis, I find Bettini's stance acceptable."
Not so Stuttgart mayor Wolfgang Schuster, who has threatened to withhold 600,000 euros due to the UCI because he believes the governing body has not done enough to combat doping at the world championships.
"[Bettini] won, therefore I congratulated him. But I would have wished for another winner," said the politician.
Perhaps Zabel summed the 20007 world's up best: "In the end, you can only look back at the event with sadness because of the damage done to cycling and the city of Stuttgart."
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