The Spanish Cycling Federation on Wednesday stripped apparent winner RobertoHeras of his 2005 Vuelta a España title and suspended him for twoyears for testing positive for EPO after the 20th-stage individual timetrial at last year’s Vuelta.

The punishment, handed down by the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC),means that Heras' 2005 Vuelta title goes to Russia's Denis Menchov of Rabobank.The 31-year-old Heras failed the test for EPO after the 20th stage,an individual time trial between Guadalajara and Alcala de Henares, onSeptember 17.Heras was fired by his Liberty-Seguros team after the failed test wasmade public.Under current UCI ProTour rules, doping suspensions are effectively doubled, as riders are banned from joining ProTour teams for twice their initial suspension, meaning that, if upheld, the penalty could mark the end of the Spanish climber's career.

---

Roberto Heras - Factfile
Born February 21 1974 in Bejar, Spain
Height: 5 foot 7
Weight: 130 poundsProfessional debut: 1996
Teams:Kelme (1996-2000)U.S. Postal (2001-2003)Liberty (2004-2005)Career highlights:Vuelta a España: 2000, 2003, 2004 (2005 victory negated after EPO positive)
(2nd in 2002, 3rd in 1999, 4th in 2001)

Tour de France:
Participated six times: 5th in 2000, 15th in 2001, 9th in 2002, 34th in 2003, abandoned in 2004, 45th in 2005.Giro d’Italia:
5th in 1999 (1 Stage win)

Other major wins
Tour de Catalogne 2002 (Plus 1 stage win in 1999)
Tour of the Basque Country 2004 (Plus 1 stage win in 2001)