Cycling-Italy’s Paolini gets 18-month ban for cocaine consumption (Reuters)
Italian rider Luca Paolini has been banned for 18 months for a “non-intentional” anti-doping rule violation, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Wednesday. The 39-year-old Katusha rider had been provisionally suspended after failing a dope test for cocaine on the Tour de France last year. The UCI’s anti-doping tribunal found the rider guilty of unintentional consumption of benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, which prompted the sanction.