Italian Sella banned for a year after doping confession
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Italian rider Emanuele Sella has been given a one-year doping ban, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Monday.
The 27-year-old, who won three stages of this year's Giro d'Italia, confessed to doping in August after testing positive for a new version of blood-booster EPO in an out-of-competition control.
CONI's anti-doping prosecutor said last month that a one-year ban would be more appropriate than the usual two-year suspension because Sella had confessed and collaborated with the authorities.
A tribunal, which has the final word, has now agreed with the prosecutor's request and his backdated ban will end on August 18 next year, CONI said in a statement.
Fellow Italian Riccardo Ricco, who took EPO during July's Tour de France, was suspended for the maximum two years in October despite the prosecutor asking for a reduced 20-month sentence because he admitted his guilt.
-Reuters
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