Banned cyclist Schumacher to return at Giro del Veneto

BERLIN (Reuters) - German cyclist Stefan Schumacher has agreed to join Italian team Miche and race at the Giro del Veneto on Aug 28, the day his two-year doping ban ends.

"Stefan ... has a contract (with Miche) until (the end of) 2010 and an option to extend for 2011," he said on his website (www.stefan-schumacher.com) on Monday. "On August 28 Stefan wants to compete at the Giro del Veneto."

Earlier this year the rider lost an appeal against his two-year worldwide ban.

However the Court of Arbitration for Sport back-dated the start of the suspension, meaning he will be free to compete again at the end of the month.

Schumacher was banned from competing in France for two years by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) in January 2009 after failing a doping test at the 2008 Tour de France.

Two months later the UCI, cycling's governing body, recognised the ban and made it worldwide.

Schumacher, who won two time trials at the 2008 Tour de France and wore the overall leader's yellow jersey for two days, tested positive for CERA, the new generation of banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Tony Jimenez)