Tour de France: T-Mobile forcing star German rider out of race

Luuc Eisenga, T-Mobile spokesman, said both Ullrich and fellow rider Oscar Sevilla were immediately suspended.

Photo: Tour de France: T-Mobile forcing star German rider out of race

Ullrich and Sevilla were among 56 cyclists named in a Spanish probe as having contact with a doctor charged in connection with alleged doping, a leading Spanish radio station reported Thursday.

Cadena SER said the Civil Guard had decoded the names from notes taken by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Other names included Spaniards Francisco Mancebo, Joseba Beloki, Roberto Heras, Santi Perez, Jose Enrique Gutierrez and Colombian Santiago Botero, the station reported.

The radio station did not give any details as to what kind of contact the cyclists had with Fuentes.

Two Spanish cycling teams, Astana-Wurth and Comunidad Valenciana, have been implicated. Comunidad Valenciana had its invitation to compete in the Tour rescinded, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Thursday that the Astana-Wurth team could not be excluded from the race.

Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner and a five-time runner-up, is one of the favorites in this year's race. Tour organizers decided Tuesday that the evidence against him was too weak to ask him to withdraw, the AP reports.