Di Luca will get the chance to don the Maglia Rosa and pop the bubbly again in 2008 Danilo Di Luca was cleared yesterday by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) in the "Oil for Drugs" scandal involving his low hormone levels at last year's Giro d'Italia. Di Luca, having been dropped from his former Pro Tour sponsor Liquigas, now can hope to defend his Giro d'Italia title for the continental LPR Brakes team. Di luca will have the benefit of two-time Giro winner Paolo Salvodelli, who signed with the team for 2008, in the high mountains as he tries to defend his 2007 Giro title.
Di Luca, even as a junior, showed big promise
Di Luca won't be able to defend his 2007 Liege title as his team has not been invited, but that will only give "The Killer" more time to prepare for his Giro defense. He'll be a formidable adversary for Riccardo Ricco, Gilberto Simoni, Franco Pellizotti, and Stephano Garzelli for the 91st edition of the Giro d'Italia.
The spoils of victory: Di Luca's custom-pinked Giro carbon handlebars---sah-weet
Now that Di Luca has been cleared by the governing body, how must the Liquigas company feel? They invested in Di Luca only to see his and their name tarnished by false doping allegations. Now Di Luca is viewed as "innocent," but he is no longer associated with the Liquigas team after being dropped amid threats of sanctioning. Di Luca looks to be a casualty in the war against doping, as he'll have to hope to get back onto a Pro Tour team in the next year or two. Small comfort to a man who was nearly stripped of his hard earned 2007 Giro title.
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1 comments:
Um, no. this case had nothing to do with Oil for Drugs. It was about the weird hormone levels he had after a CONI test at last year's giro. The two cases are totally separate and he already served his three month ban for Oil for Drugs.
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