AIGLE, Switzerland – Giro d'Italia stage winner Mauro Santambrogio has tested positive for EPO in a sample given on the opening day of the race last month.
Santambrogio joins his Vini Fantini teammate and fellow Italian Danilo Di Luca in failing doping tests involving the banned blood-boosting hormone in connection with the country's signature race.
The International Cycling Union said Monday it provisionally suspended the 28-year-old Santambrogio and asked the Italian cycling federation to prosecute a disciplinary case.
Santambrogio faces being stripped of his victory in the tough and mountainous stage 14 and his ninth-place finish overall.
The UCI said Santambrogio tested positive in a urine sample given on May 4, the first stage of the three-week race.
On May 18, he rode through treacherous weather conditions into Bardonecchia to beat eventual overall winner Vicenzo Nibali for the stage win. It was the biggest success of Santambrogio's career.
Two days before Nibali completed his victory, 2007 Giro winner Di Luca was also announced to have tested positive for EPO in a sample given days before the race.
Di Luca was pulled from the Giro and fired by the Vini Fantini team. The 37-year-old rider faces a lifetime ban for a second offense.
A third doping case at the Giro involved French rider Sylvain Georges. The 28-year-old AG2R La Mondiale rider tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol in a urine sample after the seventh stage. – Sapa-AP