The Italian cyclist Danilo Di Luca has been banned for two years for testing positive for illegal blood booster CERA during last year's Giro d'Italia.
However after the Italian Olympic Committee's ruling, Di Luca says he's going to the Court of Arbritration for Sport and is convinced he'll be able to return earlier than in two years.
Prosecutors had wanted Di Luca, the 2007 Giro champion who was the runner-up last year, to face a three-year suspension but the tribunal opted for a two-year ban and a 500 thousand dollar fine plus costs.
Di Luca, provisonally suspended in July when news of the failed test was announced, had questioned the methods of the laboratory which handled both his positive samples.
He already served a three-month suspension in late 2007 after he was found guilty of frequenting a doctor accused of supplying doping products to athletes.
