Pietro Caucchioli when he rode for Credit Agricole (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal has banned Pietro Caucchioli for two years following the discovery of irregularities with his UCI Biological Passport.
The 34-year-old Italian was one of the first group of five riders to face sanctions regarding suspicious blood values discovered by the blood screening system.
The Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal ruled that Caucchioli be banned from competing until June 18, 2011. He has not raced since the UCI first revealed his name on June 17, 2009. He was under contract with the Lampre team in 2009 but the unusual blood value that triggered his suspension was from September, 2008 while riding for the French Credit Agricole team.
Caucchioli was also fined 2,500 Swiss francs to cover the costs of the UCI and a further 2,000 Euro to cover the costs of the Italian Olympic Committee. Caucchioli had requested the hearing to be open to the public and media but the Italian Olympic Committee refused his request.
Last week the Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal also banned Francesco De Bonis. He was the first rider to ever be banned using UCI Biological Passport data rather than a positive anti-doping test.
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
