Bernhard Kohl
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 team(s) | |
| 2002 | Elk Haus |
| 2003–2004 | Rabobank GSIII |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2005–2006 | T-Mobile Team |
| 2007–2008 | Gerolsteiner |
| Major wins | |
| Austrian National Road Race champion (2006) | |
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, finishing third place overall in the Dauphiné Libéré and winning the polka dot jersey as the best climber 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.
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.
On 13 October 2008, L'Equipe 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. On the 15th he admitted his drug use. His results were removed, but his third-place finish in the 2008 Tour and his Mountain Classification championship (polka dot jersey) 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 receive the polka dot jersey for King of the Mountains. The next day, Silence-Lotto terminated Kohl's contract with the team. Several journalists had also nominated Kohl to receive the Austrian Sportspersonality of the year award, but he was removed from the contenders list. On 24 November 2008, Kohl was banned for two years by the Austrian anti-doping agency (NADA).
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