The Italian Danilo Di Luca, who tested positive for the doping substance EPO during a training control on April 29 this year and was finally released by his team during the Giro d'Italia, has been banned for life from CONI, the Italian Olympic Sports Confederation been occupied.
Along with Lance Armstrong, Di Luca is one of the few athletes to be punished with such a drastic ban. The reasons for this are of course varied. After all, Di Luca has never been a blank slate throughout his career. In 2007 he was serving a three-month ban just months after winning the Giro d'Italia. In 2009 he was one of those drivers who made headlines with the doping agent CERA. The blocking period was two years at the time, although the authorities gave him permission to start again after just nine months due to his willingness to testify. This time they decided harder. Di Luca also has to bear the costs of the analysis procedure and pay a fine of 35.000 euros.