The Silence Lotto team is set to sack Bernhard Kohl after he tested positive for CERA at the Tour de France.

The 26-year-old's sample was found to contain the new generation of the banned blood booster EPO both before and during the Tour after re-tests at a laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry, France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) confirmed on Monday.

Kohl finished third and also won the Polka Dot jersey as the best climber on this year's Tour.

The Austrian, who rode for Gerolsteiner this season, had signed a contract with Silence Lotto which was due to run until 2011.

But a statement from his new team read: "Around 1900 (on Monday) the press told us that Bernhard Kohl has been controlled positively for the use of CERA.

"We have immediately checked this information with the Gerolsteiner's manager, who has confirmed it.

"If this information is confirmed by the official authorities, the team management will start the legal steps in view of breaking immediately our future collaboration with Kohl."

Italians Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli, plus Germany's Stefan Schumacher, have already tested positive for CERA.