Team Katusha will not re-sign top Russian cyclist Alexandre Kolobnev for the 2012 season, a team spokesman confirmed on Monday, because of unresolved eligibility questions following his positive drug test in July. Kolobnev, 30, tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide at stage six of the Tour de France. Russia’s cycling federation imposed a small fine on Kolobnev in October but chose not to ban the rider from competition, a decision the UCI is appealing. In early December, a Swiss magazine reported that Kolobnev did not contest a close finish at the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege stage race in exchange for 100,000 euros.
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