Emanuele Sella given one-year ban (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Italy's anti-doping tribunal suspended Emanuele Sella for one year at the request of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) prosecutor Ettore Torri. The 27-year-old Italian received a 12-month reduction for cooperation during the investigation that led to a new round of investigations in the subsequent weeks.
The hearing at the Olympic Stadium, headed by Francesco Plotino, lasted for one and a half hours. Sella was present with his wife and his lawyer.
Sella, formally of Team CSF Group, shot to fame with three stage wins – Alpe di Pampeago, Passo Fedaia and Tirano – in the high mountains of this year's Giro d'Italia, May 10 to June 1. The International Cycling Union (UCI) targeted Sella using its blood passport programme and, in an out-of-competition control taken on July 23, found him positive for the third generation EPO, CERA.
Sella met with Olympic Committee's prosecutor Torri in August. He admitted to doping and named suppliers and key references in a two-hour meeting. Torri should act on Matteo Priamo in the coming days, the ex-teammate who Sella named as his supplier of CERA.
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