Alessandro Petacchi expects to learn his fate this week, as the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is expected to announce its decision on the doping charges stemming from the 2007 Giro d'Italia. The CAS held a hearing on the matter April 2 but said that it would issue its decision "in three to four weeks."
The Team Milram sprinter tested positive for Salbutamol, an asthma medication, after stage 11 of last year's Giro d'Italia. Petacchi has a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) from the UCI to use the drug, but the amount of the substance found in his body indicated an abuse. The controversy caused him to miss the Tour de France, even if in the end of July the Italian Cycling Federation cleared him of the charges. That decision was appealed to the CAS by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).
