The outcome of anti-doping cases involving two major names in cycling, Alberto Contador and Jan Ullrich, could both be announced in the same period in January.
RMC Sport reported earlier today that the Contador decision was due sometime between January 15th and 20th; CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb had provided that indication, and later told VeloNation that the Ullrich decision could come around the same time.
However he cautioned that the dates remain approximate at this point. “It is just an estimation. Nothing official,” he told VeloNation. “We will be able to be more specific when we get closer to mid-January 2012. It [the timeframe] is more or less the same status for the Ullrich case.”
Depending on the outcome of both hearings, the possibility is that cycling could face two major news stories within a few days of each other. Contador tested positive for Clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France
. He was cleared by the Spanish federation RFEC in February but the lack of any sanction plus the suggestions of possible political interference prompted the UCI and WADA to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The hearing was held between November 21st and 24th. CAS originally said that it would take approximately six weeks for a decision, and so the provisional date range of January 15th to 20th is just a little outside this.
Ullrich’s case relates to his implication in Operación Puerto. The affair began in May 2006 when the Madrid clinic of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes was raided by Spanish police. Ullrich, Ivan Basso and several others were prevented from starting that year’s Tour de France, and the German never raced again.
The UCI lodged an appeal after Swiss Cycling refused to sanction the rider. While he is German, he had a licence taken out with that federation at the time.
On November 30th CAS announced that it was not eligible to rule on the appeal lodged by Swiss Anti-Doping, but stated that it did consider itself able to pass judgement on the UCI action.
‘The CAS has already recognised its jurisdiction officially in that particular case and will issue its final decision in approximately 6 weeks,’ it stated in a communication issued on that day.
Still waiting for Kolobnev date:
Meanwhile CAS confirmed today that it was too soon to know when the Alexander Kolobnev appeal would be held. The Russian rider provided the 
sole positive test from this year’s Tour de France, being asked to leave the event after traces of the banned diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide were found in his system.
Towards the end of October he and the Russian federation confirmed that he would not be suspended for the positive test, but would simply be given a warning and a fine of 1,500 Swiss francs.
This followed a decree signed in July by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, awarding him the Order of Merit for the Fatherland (silver/second-class level). It is awarded to Russian citizens who are deemed to have implemented “special and useful deeds for the country.” The award relates to his two silver medals in the world road race championships plus his bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics.
“We do not have a hearing date yet for the Kolobnev case,” Reeb told VeloNation today.
It was confirmed this week that there would be no place for Kolobnev with the Katusha team in 2012. He had competed as part of the Russian squad in 2010 and 2011.