Former Giro d'Italia stage winner's 20-year ban for doping violations at junior squad

Former Giro d'Italia stage winner Danilo Napolitano has been hit with a 20-year ban after being found guilty of anti-doping violations at Salus Ciclista Seregno, the junior team where he was a director. It was regarded as one of Italy's elite junior outfits.

The president of the club, Marco Moretto, was banned for eight years.

Reports have linked Napolitano to the UAE L'Imad Women's WorldTour team, where he was working at the service course as a warehouseman and staff assistant until recently, according to a report by road.cc. The team, which goes into next week's Tour de France Femmes with one of the strongest squads, has denied all knowledge of Napolitano's doping links.

Both Napolitano and Moretto had been provisionally suspended earlier this year, with the official verdicts now delivered.

Napolitano, who is now 45, was a professional from 2004 to 2017, riding for teams including Katusha and Lampre – the Italian team that would ultimately become UAE Team Emirates in 2017. He retired after four seasons at Wanty-Gobert. He rode six Grand Tours, and won a bunch sprint in the 2007 Giro d'Italia ahead of Robbie McEwen and Alessandro Petacchi. He also won three editions of the Coppa Bernocchi one-day race.

He was charged with violating articles 2.6 and 2.8 of the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) code. The first of these relates to possession of prohibited substances or use of prohibited methods; the second the administration or attempted administration. Moretto was charged with articles relating to complicity and burden of proof.

Usually these charges would result in a maximum four-year ban, but because of Salus Ciclista Seregno's youth status, this was increased. The bans were handed down by Italy's anti-doping authority, NADO Italia and mean that Napolitano will not be able to have any involvement with cycle sport until 7 April, 2046.