Vienna - Following reports that Austrian Tour de France star Bernhard Kohl had tested positive for doping, local media on Tuesday criticized their country's authorities for their meek efforts to fight such illegal practices.

It was revealed on Monday that Kohl was the latest rider caught using the latest generation of the blood booster EPO, known as CERA (Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator), at retests of the samples gathered in July at the French race.

Kohl, 26, finished third overall at the Tour which was won by Spain's Carlos Sastre.

"It should be noted that so far, no prominent local athlete has tripped over a test carried out by Austrian entities," the newspaper Der Standard said in an editorial.

"Foreign experts rightly wonder about that."

The newspaper also criticized Austria's national doping agency for its policy of not taking blood samples.

The Kurier daily said: "Austria and doping - that's a peculiar symbiosis" - taking authorities to task for looking the other way.

In 2006, Austria's cross country skiing team caused a scandal at the Winter Olympics in Turin, when several athletes and team officials were found to have been involved in illegal blood doping.

The Austrian Olympic Committee was fined 1 million dollars by the International Olympic Committee over the incidents.

Austria media quoted Hans-Michael Holczer, the head of Kohl's former team Gerolsteiner, as saying that the Austrian cyclist was denying the allegations.

Several newspapers noted that Kohl's media manager Stefan Matschiner has been associated with doping cases in the past.

A former business partner of Matschiner was found guilty of trade with anabolic steroids in 2001. This summer, Dutch steeplechase runner Simon Vroemen, another client of Matschiner, tested positive for steroids.

Late on Monday, the association of Austrian sports reporters announced it had struck Kohl from its nominee list for becoming the nation's 2008 Athlete of the Year. (dpa)