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Swiss cyclist banned for two years for doping

Thomas Frei has been banned for two years for doping, the Swiss Olympic committee announced on Wednesday.

When Frei tested positive for the endurance-boosting drug EPO in April, he admitted it and was let go from his Swiss-American pro-cycling team BMC, which thanked him for his confession.

Frei is suspended until April 21, 2012 and was ordered by the Olympic Committee to pay SFr5,940 ($5,490) in fines and costs.

The Olten cyclist previously rode for the Kazakhstan-based team Astana in the 2007-2008 seasons.

He was the third BMC cyclist to be suspended. BMC management had already banned Italian riders Alessandro Ballan and Mauro Santambrogio after learning of their roles in an ongoing investigation into an earlier doping case.

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