CAS to issue Ullrich doping case verdict Thursday

Sport's highest court will issue a second verdict this week involving a doping case against a Tour de France winner. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it will publish a ruling on Thursday on an appeal filed by the International Cycling Union to have 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich investigated for links to Operation Puerto, a 2006 Spanish doping probe. Cycling's governing body challenged the Swiss Olympic committee's decision not to investigate Ullrich, a retired German racer who held a Swiss license. Ullrich served a six-month ban for using amphetamines in 2002, and a second offense could trigger a life ban from working in cycling. Ullrich's verdict will come three days after CAS banned Alberto Contador for two years and stripped him of his 2010 Tour title for doping.