Italian under-23 rider banned after testing positive at Baby Giro

An Italian under-23 rider has been banned for one year after he tested positive during the Baby Giro.

Marco Cecchini, a 21-year-old from Pesaro, has been added to the UCI’s list of sanctions after he was found to have used a banned substance on day two of the Giro Ciclistico d’Italia – the U23 Tour of Italy.

According to reports in Italian media, Cecchini used a cream that contained the prohibited product clostebol on June 14, but then immediately told the anti-doping official at the race.

The UCI were lenient on the young rider after he admitted his mistake, banning him for one year rather than the usual four years for anti-doping rule violations.

Cecchini tested positive on June 14, the first road stage of the 2019 Baby Giro after the opening prologue, with the result not being published until after the end of the season.

Clostebol is a banned anabolic androgenic steroid that is present in some dermatological creams.

At the baby Giro he rode to 122nd overall, his best stage finish 115th place.

He went on to ride the Italian National Championships, GP Kranj in Slovenia where he finished third, and the Tour of Szekerland in Romania.

Cecchini, who rides for Italian Continental team Sangemini - Trevigiani - MG.Kvis, has been stripped of all results dating from the Baby Giro prologue and is banned from racing until June 13, 2020.

Separately Last week, the UCI requested that anti-doping samples from 2016 and 2016 be re-tested in the wake of the Operation Aderlass blood doping scandal.

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Cycling’s international governing body has asked the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) to examine old samples in light of information and documents received from Austrian law enforcement authorities over blood doping in elite sport.

Operation Aderlass, initially a police investigation into doping in endurance skiing, hit professional cycling after WorldTour riders and staff were implicated in the scandal, resulting in the UCI handing out a number of bans.