Bernhard Kohl
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n 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 for three years. His biggest career achievements include becoming the Austrian national road race champion, finishing third place overall in the Dauphiné Libéré
Dauphiné Libéré
The Critérium du Dauphiné is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. The race was inaugurated by a local newspaper, the Dauphiné Libéré, which gave its name to the event...
and winning the polka dot jersey
Polka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
as the best climber in the 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...
. He was 73 seconds behind winner Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...
at the completion of the event, finishing in third place in the General Classification
General Classification
The general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...
. He was banned from the sport for two years after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2008. On 25 May 2009, he announced his retirement from the sport, claiming that it is "impossible to win without doping" in international cycling.
Doping
On 13 October 2008, L'Equipe announced that Kohl had tested positive for CERA (continuous erythropoitin receptor activator, a third-generation variant of erythropoietinErythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
, 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
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...
of would become the third-place finisher, while Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...
of , 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
Austrian Sportspersonality of the year
The Austrian Sports Personality of the Year is chosen annually since 1949. Recordholders are Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Hermann Maier . In 1978 and 1979 the Austrian national football team was named Austrian Sports Team 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).
His ex-manager, Stefan Matschiner, was arrested on 31 March 2009 in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and charged with selling doping substances. Kohl stated that he was "not surprised" by the arrest.
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.
Major achievements
2002 – Rabobank Continental Team- (U23) National Road Race Champion
- (U23) version – Rund um den Henninger Turm
2004 – Rabobank (Amateur Team)
Rabobank (cycling)
Rabobank is a professional bicycle racing team, sponsored by the Rabobank. The team consists of three sections: ProTeam , Continental , and Cyclo-cross...
- Tour of the Pyrenees
2005 – T-Mobile Team
First year as a professional
2006 –
- National Road Race Champion2006 National Cycling ChampionshipsMost of the 2006 national road cycling championships took place in June, although there were a few exceptions such as the Australian and American championships which take place in January and September respectively.-Jerseys:...
- 3rd Overall – Dauphiné LibéréDauphiné Libéré 2006The 58th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré took place from June 4 to June 11, 2006. It consisted of a Prologue and seven stages covering a total of 1098 km, starting in Annecy and finishing in Grenoble....