Five-time Tour de France “king of the mountains” Richard Virenque plans to appeal after being suspended for nine months and fined 4,000 Swiss francs by the doping board of the Swiss Cycling Federation today.

The ruling came in the light of Virenque’s confession in October in a court hearing in the French city of Lille that he had knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs. The maximum possible sentence was a one-year ban with 4,000-franc fine.

Tour de France：环法自行车公开赛，自行车运动的最高比赛；理查德·维伦克曾经在五届环法赛上夺得“山地之王”。

suspend：暂停，禁赛；维伦克因为服用禁药被禁赛9个月，罚款4000瑞士法郎。

confession：承认，招认；维伦克在10月份招认在上届环法赛中服用了禁药，因此招来了处罚。

The ban starts on Feb. 1 and means Virenque will miss the 2001 Tour, but the rider’s manager said he would fight the suspension in the sports appeal court in Lausanne.

“Richard will not be quitting the sport,” manager Eric Boyer said. “We will continue fighting until the end, but it seems unfair that while most people have the right to a second chance, he has been denied that opportunity.”

ban：禁止，禁赛。

sports appeal court：体育上诉法院；禁赛将使维伦克错过2001年的环法赛，维伦克将对此提起上诉。

Vincent Speder, one of Virenque’s French lawyers, said his client felt “slaughtered” by the decision but would not be giving up.

Speder said Virenque considered the suspension to be a harsh one. “He spoke up and now he is paying a severe penalty,” Speder said.

slaughter：残杀，屠杀。

severe：严厉的，严格的；维伦克的律师认为维伦克为自己的坦白付出了严重的代价。