Fränk Schleck was present when ALAD’s Conseil de discipline contre le dopage announced the ban, which begins retrospectively from July 14 2012, at the Maison des Sport in Strassen Wednesday evening. The 2013 Tour de France begins on June 29, which means Schleck will not be eligible.

The 12-month ban may be considered a lenient sentence, except for the fact that the anti-doping committee has accepted Schleck’s argument that he had not knowingly taken the banned substance--the diuretic medicine Xipamid. A 0.1 nanogramm/millilitre trace of the substance was found in his blood after the 13th stage of the 2012 Tour.

Schleck said he was obviously disappointed with the verdict, but took heart from the fact that the committee had not convicted him of cheating. “Unfortunately the rules stipulate that even in the case of involuntary contamination, a punishment must be handed down.”

He said that Xipamid was not a performance-enhancing drug, and indeed could be considered as damaging to his performance, and even dangerous. He said that he has nothing to be ashamed of. “What has been proven this evening is that I didn’t dope, and have never cheated.”

Schleck now has 21 days to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said he would first digest the sentence, and analyse it with his lawyer.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Cycling Union can also appeal the sentence. Given the recent furore over the Lance Armstrong case, it would be a surprise if either of these were content with the one-year ban, and might ask the CAS to consider a two-year sentence.