Will Petacchi race again?

Will he find a team? Of course he will, he's too good to lose and after all, it was just a breathing problem.

Alessandro Petacchi may be under suspension until later this year but he maintains that he has been treated unfairly. The Italian sprint sensation was handed a suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on May 6 and late last week his Milram squad announced it would part ways with the sprinter. "My case is extremely weird," said Petacchi. "CAS concluded that I never tested positive. "I have not cheated or undermined the rules," he added. "I just had problems breathing."

Same lawyer, different drug: Patxi Vila

Not Salbutamol but testosterone this time. Apparently the same lawyer though as Pettachi. From CN: Spain's Patxi Vila has tested non-negative for testosterone according to the International Cycling Union (UCI). The 32 year-old from Italian ProTour squad Lampre is requesting a counter-analysis.

There will be more to come on this one.

Petacchi gets a year off

Ouch. That's a bad result for Petacchi. At least we was already out of the Giro through sickness (or do we believe that now?) and he's already served 2 months. But there goes the season.

From CN: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced this morning that Italian Alessandro Petacchi would be suspended for one year for having tested positive for an asthma medication during the 2007 Giro d'Italia. It ruled that the Team Milram sprinter did not use the Salbutamol – an asthma drug – as doping but for medicinal purposes. Since the sprinter did not race for two months after the positive test on May 23, 2007, those two months were removed from his ban. The ban will run from November 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008.

It's not over for Petacchi

Just when it looked as though the asthmatic sprinter had put the case behind him, back it comes, coughing and spluttering... via CyclingNews.com:
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials are expected to meet with their counterparts at the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the world doping body joined the call for Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram) to be banned and the Italian Cycling Federation's decision overturned, following the rider's non-negative during the Giro d'Italia. The three organisations will meet to discuss the case, with CONI considering combining both WADA and CONI's submission "considering the substantial uniformity" of their positions, a statement on CONI's website reported.

Clearance of the day: Petacchi

Really, deos anyone care anymore? Well yes, they do. Alessandro has been cleared of further pain over his Salbutamol over-use. From CN: CONI's appeal to force the Italian Cycling Federation to exact a sanction against sprinter Alessandro Petacchi for his 'non-negative' for Salbutamol was rejected on Saturday. The agency had hoped to overturn a previous ruling by the federation which cleared the Milram rider of wrongdoing after he went over the limit for the amount of the drug in his urine during the Giro d'Italia on May 23.

Dope of the day number 2... Alessandro Petacchi

Almost sorry to put Alessandro here, but he did fail a doping test - for Salbutamol - despite having a medical release registered with the UCI that allows him to use it legitimately. The problem is the quantity. Does it remind you at all of the old caffeine chestnut? Yes, caffeine wakes you up and gets you going, and it even mobilises fat use; but should we ban it outright at any level of use? What about coffee addicts? Aren't we human after all? Just insert "salbutamol" for "caffeine" and ask the same questions. Well, OK, we aren't all coffee drinkers - or asthmatics. And there do seem to be a lot of "puffers" out at the start of bike races though, eh?

Again from Cyclingnews.com:
CONI appeal on Petacchi set Alessandro Petacchi may return to competition this week, but he's not out of hot water yet. While the Italian cycling federation cleared the Milram man on charges stemming from a 'non-negative' doping control from the Giro d'Italia, the decision was appealed by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) which wants to see a one year ban. The date for the appeal has been set for August 11 according to the Italian federation. Petacchi was left off his team's roster for the Tour de France, and spent the month instead awaiting a decision by the antidoping authorities on punishment for a urine test which showed he had more than the allowable amount of the asthma drug Salbutamol in his system during the Giro d'Italia. The rider claimed that he had simply used too much of his asthma inhaler.