Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso tests positive for EPO

Italian rider Giampaolo Caruso has tested positive for EPO in an out of competition sample taken more than three years ago – and as the second rider from Katusha to test positive for a banned substance in a little more than a month, the Russian team could be looking at a suspension from racing of up to 45 days.

The sample for which the 35 year old, who has been with Katusha since 2010, tested positive was taken on 27 March 2012 and according to the UCI “had been stored and was reanalysed in light of new scientific developments.”

The governing body, which has provisionally suspended Caruso pending analysis of his B sample, did not say why the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation had retested the specific sample, which can be stored for up to 10 years according to current rules.

With Luca Paolini having tested positive for cocaine during the Tour de France, under rules introduced at the start of this year, any team with two riders returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF)within 12 months can face a suspension from racing of between 15 and 45 days.

– Katusha's Luca Paolini tests positive for cocaine

The first team to be sanctioned in this way was the Italian UCI Professional Continental outfit Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, which was suspended for 30 days last month after samples from two riders tested positive for banned substances in June.

– UCI to suspend Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec after second rider tests positive

When the UCI announced the second of those AAFs, it said in its press release that it would ask its Disciplinary Committee to suspend the team in accordance with those new rules.

It has not yet said whether it will seek a similar sanction against Katusha, which will be led by Joaquim Rodriguez, who is due to lead it in the Vuelta which starts on Saturday.

Katusha is also a member of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) whose rules require that members suspend themselves in the event of a second rider testing positive within 12 months, but the samples must have been collected within that period.

The UCI rules introduced at the start of this year do not have any such qualification, although the governing body has said it will make no further comment until analysis of Caruso’s B sample.

Caruso had been due to ride in the Vuelta, and referring to his positive test, Katusha said that it “would like to underline that this news comes as a complete shock.”

It’s the second positive test of the Italian’s career. During the 2003 Tour Down Under, which he rode with ONCE-Eroski, he tested positive for the anabolic agent, nandrolone after winning Stage 5 of the race.

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Caruso, who was also implicated in Operacion Puerto but ultimately cleared of involvement in the Spain-based doping ring by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was only officially stripped of that Tour Down Under stage victory in 2012.