Dutch cyclist Dekker fired by team for doping

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Dutch rider Thomas Dekker has been fired by Silence-Lotto for testing positive for the blood-booster EPO.

Dekker was kicked off the Silence-Lotto team for the Tour de France in July just days before cycling's showcase race began after traces of EPO was discovered in a retested urine sample taken in December 2007 when he rode for Rabobank.

Dekker's lawyer, Hans van Oijen, said the cyclist's "B" sample had also tested positive, telling Dutch broadcaster NOS that his client "acknowledges he made a mistake."

Silence-Lotto manager Marc Sergeant told Belgium network VRT on Wednesday that "now that it is clear that the man used banned substances, it is over for us and we have nothing left to do but fire him definitively."

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