UCI strips Bauge of world cycling title

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

Bauge is stripped of the title he won at the Track Cycling World Championships. AFP photo

France’s Gregory Bauge was stripped of the sprint title he won at last year’s world cycling championships after falling foul of dope testing rules.

Bauge lost his gold medal won in the Netherlands last March for failing to keep drug testing officials informed of his whereabouts.

The suspension, which takes effect retroactively on Dec. 23, 2010, was meted out by the French Cycling Federation in a ruling handed down in November and made public on Jan. 6 by the International Cycling Union.

Bauge’s retrospective ban ended last month with any titles won in that time anulled.

The decision means the France team, of which he was a member, was also stripped of their world team sprint title won in Apeldoorn.

Bauge’s individual sprint title has been given to British cyclist Jason Kenny, with the team title going to Germany.

“Bauge sinned by not taking this seriously enough and this negligence has cost him dear,” a source close to the affair told AFP.

The good news for Bauge, who has the right to appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is that he is clear to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

He is due to resume competition next month.

At Apeldoorn he became the first cyclist since his coach Florian Rousseau (1996-1998) to claim three consecutive world championship sprint titles.