The International Cycling Union (UCI) has not ruled out taking the Pellizotti case to the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) once they have the full documentation from the Italian court that dropped the doping charges against him.
The Italian was cleared on Thursday by the Italian national anti-doping court (TNA), “because there aren't enough elements to prove the cyclist guilty of blood manipulation.”
However the UCI’s spokesperson, Enrico Carpani told Cyclingnews that the UCI would only act on the decision once the TNA handed over all the documentation linked to their recent ruling.
“We received today the short decision from the Italian court on the Pellizotti case. We’ve asked the court to supply the full file and documentation because we have to know in detail the reason why they took this decision,” Carpani told Cyclingnews.
“They have thirty days from today to provide that document. Once we have that in our hands we'll study it in detail. Then we'll decide to either accept the court or go to CAS for an appeal. That’s all we can say.”
The UCI and the Italian Olympic Committee's Anti-doping prosecutor (CONI) had officially recommended a two-year suspension for Franco Pellizotti for violation of the WADA Anti-doping code.
The 32-year-old was provisionally suspended by his Liquigas-Doimo team in May after the UCI announced that it had detected abnormal values in the profile of Pellizotti's blood passport but today’s ruling means that he is clear to race.
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The irregularities dated back to a sample taken after he placed second in the 2009 Giro d'Italia and before the 2009 Tour de France, where Pellizotti won the mountains classification and was voted most aggressive rider.
Pellizotti has always claimed he was innocent and has threatened legal action against the UCI for lost earning and damages. The Italian was forced to miss this year’s Giro d’Italia.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
