Mazzoleni, Di Luca, Petacchi called before CONI

VeloNews | CONI prosecutor summons Giro stars

Two separate doping investigations by the Italian Olympic Committee will bring Alessandro Petacchi, Danilo Di Luca, and Eddy Mazzoleni before investigators next week.

Petacchi hopes to present his therapeutic use exemption for the asthma medication salbutamol and be cleared to race in the Tour de France, after one of his 5 doping tests from the Giro d'Italia came back with a salbutamol level of 1320 nanograms/milliliter. His other Giro tests were all below the trigger value of 1,000 nanograms/mL.

Petacchi is suspended from competition until the committee reaches a decision, which puts him out of the Italian nationals and threatens his spot in the Tour.

Di Luca and Mazzoleni will appear before the same investigator as Petacchi, Ettore Torri, as part of a hearing on what's been called the “Oil for Drugs” case, resulting from raids conducted during the 2004 (!) Giro d'Italia. Di Luca has already ruled out a Tour ride, after winning the Giro, but Mazzoleni, 3rd in this year's Giro, may be is suspended during the investigation, which would will keep him off the Astana squad. The case apparently took its name from evidence that some ridres may have been trading massage oil for performance enhancers.