Dope cheat claims still haunt Ullrich as UCI demand investigation

The doping scandal which has dogged 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich for almost four years shows no sign of abating after the UCI said he could still face legal proceedings.

Last month, the Swiss Olympic Committee (SOC) decided not to take any action against the German, who has been under a cloud since the Operation Puerto affair of 2006, which saw him fired from the T-Mobile team on the eve of that year's Tour.

This week, the UCI have confirmed they've appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the SOC's decision to halt the investigation into Ullrich's past.

They say they are not satisfied with the decision to stop the investigation and insist a decision must be made whether Ullrich is guilty or not.

The SOC had decided not to pursue the investigation about Ullrich, who lived in Switzerland, because the German resigned from the Swiss cycling federation in 2006.

Ullrich was linked to the Operation Puerto scandal after samples of his blood were found during a police raid on Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes who was at the centre of a doping ring.

Ullrich, who also finished second in the Tour de France five times as well as third and fourth, has always inisted he's never doped. He retired in 2007.