The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday upheld the two-year ban imposed last August on David Millar by the British Cycling Federation (BCF).

Millar was questioned by French police before the Tour de France in 2004 as part of an investigation into doping in his Cofidis team. He admitted taking endurance booster EPO (erythropoietin) in 2001 and 2003.

Millar, who won gold medal for Malta, his country of birth, in the time-trial event in the San Marino GSSE 2001, appealed to the CAS for the ban to be cut to a year and a hearing was held last month.

The CAS said yesterday it considered that the two-year suspension was "proportionate to the circumstances of the case and was in accordance with the CAS jurisprudence."

But a CAS panel agreed that from the date of his arrest Millar had been unable to compete and decided that the ban should end in June 2006, not August 2006.

Millar won the time-trial at the world championships in 2003 but was stripped of the title last September.