T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz reacted in amazement on Wednesday after he was informed he had failed a doping test as he prepared for the Tour de France last month.

The German Cycling Federation (BDR) announced on Wednesday that the 26-year-old's A sample, taken on June 8, had a raised testosterone level and he must now decide if his B sample will be tested. The up and coming rider has been suspended by his team who say that if the B sample confirms the first test then he will be sacked.

That news sent shockwaves through the German media, with national TV networks ARD and ZDF suspending their coverage of the Tour de France. It was not immediately clear if the move was a one-day protest or would endure for the remainder of the Tour. But during Wednesday’s stage 10, U.S. TV outlets showed images of German TV personnel sitting around a table outside their production truck.

Sinkewitz was forced to pull out of the Tour de France after suffering a broken nose and shoulder injury on Sunday after colliding with a spectator when occupying 50th place in the overall standings.

Currently recovering in a Hamburg hospital, Sinkewitz reacted with bewilderment when he was told the news.

"Me? Why me? I don't know anything about it. This can't be," was his reaction, reported in German on-line sports magazine Kicker. "I am due to have an operation and I can't think about it now."

Sinkewitz, who won the 2004 Tour of Germany, now has five days to decide whether he wants his B sample to be tested.

"If he has the B sample tested and that confirms the positive findings, the BDR will ban Patrik Sinkewitz from all teams," explained BRD in a press release.

T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton was taking a similarly tough line.

Speaking ahead of the tour de France's 10th stage Stapleton said: "Patrik has been suspended and if the B sample confirms the first result his contract will be terminated. It's certainly not a plus for our team. Our stance is that we encourage targeted testing, out of competition testing. It's consistent with our view that if you don't do the right thing you get caught and suffer the consequences. It's disappointing for our management and athletes that this type of behavior continues."

It has been a bad week for Sinkewitz who collided with a spectator on Sunday immediately after the end of the eighth stage in Tignes suffering a broken nose and a head injury.

But the latest development is more bad new for T-Mobile who have seen several former riders confess to taking banned blood-booster Erythropoietin in the last few months.

Seven former Telekom cyclists, including 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis and top sprinter Erik Zabel, admitted they took EPO in the 1990s. And Sinkewitz's failed drugs test comes almost exactly one year after T-Mobile sacked 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich for being linked to a doping scandal in Spain.