As it was announced yesterday, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the appeal filed by the German Anti-Doping Agency and thus Patrik Sinkewitz is banned for competition for 8 years.

The German cyclist, most recently riding for Continental level team Meridiana Kamen, underwent a doping control on 27 February 2011 during his participation in Grand Prix Lugano, and both A and B samples revealed a presence of recombinant growth hormone (recGH). As Sinkewitz had already served a one-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation in 2007, the German Anti-doping Agency requested a period of ineligibility of no less then eight years, what practically means the end of a professional career for the 33-year old rider.

Sinkewitz decided to file an appeal after CAS had ruled in favor of Estonian cross country skier Andrus Veerpalu in a similar case one year ago.

"The CAS Panel is of the view that the findings in both the Veerpalu decision and of the German Anti-Doping Agency decision do not undermine the reliability of the so-called 'decision limits' as such and do not prevent the panel from taking into consideration the ratios found in the athlete's samples as means of evidence," read a statement on the CAS website. "The CAS Panel does not have to scientifically evaluate the process of the determination of the decision limits and can restrict itself to evaluating the persuasive weight of the expert testimonies before it. The CAS Panel in Veerpalu's case essentially based its conclusion on technical issues such as late or incomplete provision of information and data by the FIS."

Sinkewitz already served one year, three months and four days of a voluntary suspension, however, he was recently racing and achieved some noticeable result while finishing runner up to Jose Serpa (Lampre-Merida) in the Trofeo Laigueglia last week.

In addition to the eight-year ban, the German rider was ordered to pay a fine of 38,500 euros.