Cycling:A decision on whether 2007 Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca is guilty of doping has been delayed, officials said today.
An Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) commission held a hearing this morning to assess whether anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri's request for Di Luca to be banned for two years should be upheld.
LPR rider Di Luca, who denies the charge and did not attend the hearing, is accused of showing abnormal hormone levels in a test after the 17th stage of the Giro last May.
Three independent experts will now have 10 days to form an opinion and report back to the commission. Another hearing will take place on April 16th, officials said.
The case has taken almost a year to come to a climax because of complex scientific data.
"We are not here for simple doubt. We are here to forward a specific concrete accusation. Di Luca engaged in the manipulation of his body with an infusion of plasma," prosecution lawyer Fabio Filocamo told the hearing.
The prosecution said there were no tests to highlight plasma but that the hormone levels showed a drip had been used.
Di Luca's defence team said the hormone levels were simply the result of the 32-year-old drinking lots of water.
The defence said tests had been carried out with volunteers who exhibited similar hormone levels having drunk water.
Di Luca was given a three-month ban by CONI in October for a related doping matter. He was punished for his involvement with Carlo Santuccione, a doctor accused of supplying doping products to athletes.
The rider appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the sanction and is awaiting a decision.
Di Luca was forced to miss September's world championships in Stuttgart because of the two doping probes and was thrown out of the Pro Tour in October while leading the competition.
Cycling has been rocked by a series of doping scandals in recent years and Italy has been hit especially hard.
On Wednesday, CAS will hear an appeal by rider Alessandro Petacchi against a CONI request for a one-year ban.
He tested positive for salbutamol during the last Giro but Petacchi argued he used the substance in his asthma inhaler, for which he had a medical certificate, and that any overuse was human error.