ITALIAN cyclist Leonardo Piepoli has been handed an immediate ban after testing positive for a banned substance at last year’s Tour de France.
The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping tribunal said the two-year ban will end on January 25, 2011.
Piepoli, who won the 10th stage of the Tour de France, tested positive on July 4 and July 15 for CERA, an advanced version of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO, according to the Associated Press.
The rider said earlier this month that he had engaged in doping in a "moment of weakness." He called his behavior "unjustifiable" and urged other cyclists not to cheat.
Meanwhile in Spain, some of the world’s top cyclists could face further court appearances in connection with the freshly reopened Operation Puerto doping probe.
Spanish sport minister Jaime Lissavetzky said this week the third review of the case would include “oral testimony,” also according to the Associated Press.
A Spanish court recently decided to reopen the investigation which has rocked the cycling world since the blood doping ring was discovered in May 2006.
More than 50 cyclists were originally implicated and earlier this month, a Madrid provincial court revoked the decision to shelve the case because “evidence exists that a crime was committed against public health.”
- looks like someone has fallen for the steel is real markerting BS. I only care how a bike rides, not what it is made of. I had a lovely steel...
That argument is ignorance of the widespread height and width restrictions to be found on the many minor roads that were originally created for...
cyclists should be made to have number plates - Interesting police video here of the range of illegal number plates - we'd got, as the caption says...
Some kind of lens cleaner apparently
The trailer seems to connect to both ends of the rear axle. Can it do tight corners without dragging the tyre sideways?
Motorists have always been unkind to cyclists, but distracted driving is adding to the problem....
Have you owned Bont shoes? In my experience even the widest Lake shoes have had a bizarre form of narrowing way too much in the toe area. But the...
Not sure if this is possible, but this news letter goes out all over the world, and some places like Decathlon does not send stuff to America, in...
I'm confused as to why you'd need bib shorts indoors.
I'm sure you were being sarcastic... however ... Lewis Hamilton lives in Monaco. Yet another car driver that doesn't pay any tax