Luca Paolini suspended for 18 months for positive cocaine test
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 13/04/16 11:14am
Veteran Italian rider Luca Paolini has been banned for 18 months following a positive test for cocaine at last year’s Tour de France.
The 39-year-old was provisionally suspended and removed from the race on July 10, having failed a doping control after the fourth stage three days earlier.
The International Cycling Union's (UCI) Anti-Doping Tribunal heard Paolini's case last month and their ruling was announced in a statement on Wednesday.
It read: "The Anti-Doping Tribunal found the rider guilty of a non-intentional anti-doping rule violation [presence of a cocaine metabolite - benzoylecgonine] and imposed an 18-month period of ineligibility on the rider."
The UCI statement did not specify whether Paolini's ban will be backdated to the start of his provisional suspension.
He is currently without a team, having had his contract with Katusha terminated last year.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport in December, Paolini revealed his use of cocaine had been a spin-off from an addiction to sleeping medication, for which he has since undergone treatment.
