Ullrich drops Switzerland licence

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Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich has split from the Swiss Cycling Federation (SCF) but denied his career is over amid a doping scandal.

The Switzerland-based German is contesting allegations that he has been using banned substances since 2003.

His split from the SCF comes after his T-Mobile team sacked him ahead of this year's Tour.

However, he insisted: "This split from the Swiss federation does not mean that I am ending my career."

Ullrich was first cited as part of a Spanish doping investigation dubbed 'Operation Puerto'.

However, the Swiss federation recently said that they did not have enough evidence from the probe to be able to sanction him, though it did indicate that the evidence suggested some use of illegal substances by the German.

The 32-year-old has always denied taking any prohibited substances and, despite having no team, he could continue his career if he escapes sanctions.