Cycling: Petacchi tight-lipped with doping investigators
Tour green jersey winner has not tested positive
28 July, 18:02
(ANSA) - Florence, July 28 - Alessandro Petacchi used the
right to remain silent Wednesday at a meeting with criminal
prosecutors who are probing suspicions he and other Italian
cyclists committed doping offences.The investigation, based in the northern city of Padua, regards the alleged use of human serum albumin and PFC (Perfluorocarbon). The 36-year-old Lampre rider, who claimed the sprinters' green jersey at the Tour de France by finishing top of the points classification Sunday, has not failed a doping test for either banned substance.
He has not been charged either.
''He wanted to speak (to the prosecutors), but I decided on a strategy of using the right not to answer,'' Petacchi's lawyer Virginio Angelini said after the meeting in Florence.
''A lawyer is duty bound to choose the best strategy for his client. This is not a matter of him hiding''. Petacchi could face sanctions from the sporting authorities, as the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutors said later on Wednesday that they have summoned him to a meeting with them next Tuesday.
If he were found guilty of misconduct, he would probably get a long career-ending ban as it would be Petacchi's second offence. He was given a controversial one-year ban in 2007 after failing a drugs test for asthma drug salbutamol despite arguing that he had only gone over the allowed level because he had mistakenly overused his inhaler.
PFC can strengthen riders by increasing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity.
It has recently come to be considered an alternative to blood booster EPO in doping circles as it is harder to detect.
Human serum albumin can be used as a masking agent.
Petacchi is one of cycling's finest sprinters, having won 46 stages on the three grand tours, six on the Tour de France, 19 on the Vuelta a Espana and 21 on the Giro d'Italia.
