Swiss anti-doping officials said Thursday that they are likely to open disciplinary proceedings against former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in January.

Bernhard Welten, the commission's legal expert, told AFP he expected the disciplinary body to deliver a ruling about two months after it takes up the case, the average for most cases its considers.

Welten said he was waiting for documents to arrive from Germany before opening the procedure.

"That will most probably be at the beginning of January. As soon as these documents are in I will put together the case file and petition the disciplinary chamber for a decision," he explained.

Ullrich, a former Olympic champion who won the Tour's yellow jersey in 1997, was barred from competing in this year's Tour de France after being implicated in a doping investigation by Spanish police.

The German cyclist, who holds a Swiss license, is alleged to have been given EPO, steroids and human growth hormone by a Madrid doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes, who is accused of running a major doping ring.

Ullrich, 32, has protested his innocence and released a statement on his website explaining that he was no longer part of Spain’s Operación Puerto investigation.

The Swiss federation announced in August it was ready to launch disciplinary action against Ullrich, in principle after an initial examination of the evidence, and handed the case on to the anti-doping commission run by the Swiss Olympic association.

However, federation anti-doping chief Lorenz Schlaefli predicted a tough legal battle due to the legal complications involved.

It is the first time that the Swiss anti-doping commission has handled a case from any sport that does not involve a positive doping test.

"We don't have a positive test," Welten said.

However, the Swiss are hoping that the successful U.S. anti-doping action in the BALCO case two years ago — the first in the world not to involve a positive laboratory test as proof — has set a precedent.

The BALCO rulings on a major athletics doping network were upheld by sports' top international legal body, the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Formal evidence from the Spanish legal investigation is proving to be hard to come by, Welten said.

"I have asked for some documents, but it's relatively difficult. There's a whole chain that takes a long time," he explained.

The Spanish judge overseeing the Puerto investigation ruled several weeks ago that evidence could not be used to sanction any of the estimated 58 riders implicated.

However, Welten said some of the evidence from Spain could become public during legal proceedings in Germany. A German lawyer specializing in doping cases, Peter-Michael Diestel, claimed last week that he had been recruited by Ullrich and planned to launch legal action soon to counter allegations against the cyclist.

Tour de Langkawi saved
Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi has been saved from cancellation after the government boosted the ten-day stage race with a much needed injection of cash.

The race, which attracts a selection of up-and-coming and experienced riders in the early pre-season period, had been under threat due to the alleged mismanagement by the former organizer.

However the Malaysian government has now appointed a new organizer and the race will now go ahead as scheduled from February 2nd to the 11th, 2007.

A statement from the new organizers said the race now owes its existence to the Malaysian government.

"The Tour of Langkawi 2007 will be fully supported by the Malaysian Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ministry of Tourism in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2007,” the statement noted. "The Government also hopes that long time sponsors and new sponsors will come forward to make Le Tour de Langkawi 2007 a huge success."

The race was won by South Africa's David George in 2006.