BERLIN (AP) – Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich ended his honeymoon Friday and returned home following a search of his Swiss residence in connection with the Spanish doping scandal.

“My wife Sara and I are deeply hurt by the search and seizure that was widely reported in the media,” the star German cyclist said on his Web site. “Because of the background of that incident we drove home.”

Police in the Swiss province of Thurgau, where Ullrich’s house is located, refused to comment on reports that a DNA sample from the 1997 Tour champion was found.

The reports said the DNA would be compared to the frozen blood seized from a Madrid clinic that is believed to belong to Ullrich. The Spanish doping investigation forced the German and eight other riders to withdraw from this year’s Tour.

The Bonn state prosecutor’s office said it did not believe Swiss police collected DNA in the search.

“My officials, that were there as observers, did not report that to me,” chief prosecutor Fred Apostel said.

The state prosecutor’s office instigated the search of Ullrich’s home and nine other residences and offices across Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. It is investigating whether fraud had been committed through the use and acquisition of performance-enhancing drugs.

AP-ES-09-15-06 1451EDT