The manager of deposed 2008 Tour de France podium finisher Bernhard Kohl was today sentenced to 15 months in prison, but will escape a custodial sentence. Stefan Matschiner was found guilty of dealing banned substances, and also of attempting to help others carry out blood doping.
The 35 year old Austrian worked with Kohl, his former teammate Markus Zberg, triathlete Lisa Huetthaler and five others who have not been named. The Austrian court ruled that he had given them EPO, testosterone, insulin and growth hormones.
He has denied claims that he had also facilitated illict practices by another former Tour King of the Mountains, Michael Rasmussen, and the Olympic cross-country skiing champion Christian Hoffman.
Fourteen out of the fifteen months of the sentence are suspended, with just one to be actually served in prison. However, as Matschiner has already spent several weeks on remand, he will not be required to go back behind bars unless he commits another offence within the same time period.
Kohl stunned the world of cycling when he won the polka dot jersey and placed third in the 2008 Tour de France. His Gerolsteiner team-mate Stefan Schumacher also made a sudden, dramatic improvement when he won both time trials in the race.
However they, Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli were all caught for CERA, a third-generation form of EPO.
Kohl admitted his guilt and gave evidence to investigators, helping to build a case against Matschiner. Schumacher continues to deny doing anything wrong.
An investigative report published last year concluded that Kohl, Rasmussen and Hoffman paid for a blood centrifuge which aided the sportspeople to dope. It also named the Dutchmen Michael Boogerd and Thomas Dekker plus the Italian Pietro Caucchioli as being involved in the doping ring.