Stefan Denifle was sentenced to two years in prison, 16 months of which were suspended, for serious commercial fraud related to doping while a professional cyclist.

The Austrian, who was investigated as part of Operation Adelrath and confessed to blood doping in March 2019, was banned from cycling later that year and stripped of his results since 2014. He had raced with IAM Cycling and Aqua Blue Sport during that time.

According to Austrian media (opens in new tab), the non-final sentence was handed down by a court in Innsbruck on Tuesday. Denifle was also handed down a fine of 349,000 euros.

Denifle pleaded guilty to the main charge of blood doping with the help of German doctor Mark Schmidt, a key figure in the "Operation Adelrath" investigation, and securing fraudulent contracts, or funds from teams and sponsors.

The 33-year-old denied further fraud charges related to hiding money, saying he intended to invest in bitcoin and gold pending trial.

Operation Aderlass came to public attention in February 2019 when Austrian police raided athletes competing in the Nordic Ski World Championships. At the center of the investigation was Schmidt, who ran a clinic in Erfurt, Germany.

Within weeks, several cyclists were caught up in the investigation, and Denifle became the first athlete to confess to involvement with former Gerolsteiner and Milram physician Schmidt, who had been accused by Bernhard Koll of doping athletes in 2009.

Denifle had signed with the CCC team for 2019, but terminated his contract with the team in late 2018, citing "personal reasons". He did not return to cycling and was banned from cycling for four years in June 2019.

All of his results from June 2014 to the end of his career, including the 2015 Tour de Suisse mountain champion title, the 2017 Tour de Austria overall title, and the 2017 Vuelta a España stage 17 victory, were erased after his ban.

Other riders who were banned for four years include Georg Preidler of Grupama-FDJ, Kristijan Dulasek of UAE Team Emirates, and Austrian mountain biker Christina Kolman for their involvement in the Adelas operation.

Borut Bozic and Kristijan Koren of Bahrain Merida were both suspended for two years, as was former professional player Alessandro Petacchi. Deniful was the first person to receive a custodial sentence as a result of the investigation.