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Ex-pro cyclist Stefan Denifl jailed for doping

Former IAM Pro Cycling and Aqua Blue Sport rider imprisoned for eight months

Former professional cyclist Stefan Denifl has been jailed for eight months for doping, with a further 16 months’ imprisonment suspended.

The former IAM Pro Cycling and Aqua Blue Sport rider was sentenced today by a court in Austria for “aggravated sports fraud” following the Operation Aderlass investigation into doping in sport.

The 33 year old has also been fined €349,000 by the Innsbruck Regional Court, according to press reports in Austria.

In late 2018, after Aqua Blue Sport collapsed, it was announced that Denifl had signed the CCC team for the following season.

But in December of that year, the team said that the Austrian rider would not be joining, for unspecified personal reasons.

In March 2019, shortly after news of the Operation Aderlass blood doping scandal broke,  he admitted doping, and he was handed a four-year ban in June of that year.

He was subsequently stripped of results including the overall victory of the 2017 Tour of Austria, and his Stage 17 win at the Vuelta a Espana the same year.

In Austria, as in several other countries, doping by athletes is criminalised on grounds of fraud.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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