Italian police raid homes of Di Luca and Santuccione

Italian police on Friday searched the homes of Danilo Di Luca and the doctor who is accused of supplying him with the illegal drug for which he tested positive.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Wednesday that Di Luca twice tested positive for the banned blood booster CERA during the Giro d'Italia in May.

According to AP the Carabinieri anti-doping unit raided Di Luca's house near Pescara and the nearby residence of Dr. Carlo Santuccione.

Di Luca was suspended for three months in 2007 for maintaining a working relationship with Santuccione after the doctor had been banned for life by the Italian federation for supplying athletes with prohibited performance enhancing drugs.

Di Luca, who placed second in this year's Giro d'Italia has denied having taken CERA, and has demanded that the B-sample analysis be completed by a different laboratory.

"I hope the truth comes out and the truth is that I haven't taken a drug, I haven't taken this drug," he said.