Lampre's Diego Ulissi has failed an anti-doping test during the Giro D'Italia, his team have announced.
Lampre have issued the following statement:
"The Team communicates that the rider Diego Ulissi has today received notification from the International Cycling Union (UCI) of an adverse analytical finding in relation to the anti-doping test carried out at the end of the 11th stage during the Giro d’Italia (Collecchio-Savona, May the 21st, 2014).
The results of the test from the UCI report the presence in the urine of the athlete of an abnormal amount of salbutamol (1900 ng/ml), higher than the limit allowed by the regulations, which sees the limit at 1000 ng/ml.
It is important to point out that Diego Ulissi, accompanied by Dr. Carlo Guardascione (head team doctor) had declared in his statement taken prior to the anti-doping control, the assumption before the race of Ventolin (2 puffs, equivalent to 100 ng of salbutamol each) and paracetamol during the race, the latter given by the race doctor due to the crash which occurred during the stage in which he had been involved with many other athletes.
The assumption of Ventolin is permitted and was necessary because Ulissi was suffering from bronchospasm. As usual, all previous assumptions of Ventolin had been correctly declared.
The rider, as per internal team sanitary code, will be provisionally suspended, consequently he will not be attending the national team training camp, and he requests the opening and analysis of sample B.
The athlete himself and the medical staff of the team will continue to explore the reasons why the urine has been identified as having an abnormal and high presence of salbutamol, compared to only two inhalations performed.
Ulissi strongly rejects the presence of such a large amount of salbutamol and decided to make use of the possibility provided for by the WADA and UCI regulations to undergo a controlled excretion study in relation to the substance salbutamol."