Cycling: Five Italian riders guilty of doping

ROME - A judge in a Sanremo court today found five Italian cyclists and a masseur guilty of doping offences during the 2001 Giro d'Italia.

Human growth hormone and insulin were among the banned substances found during police raids on all 20 teams involved in the Giro when it passed through the northern Italian resort in June 2001.

Giuseppe Di Grande, Alberto Elli and Dario Frigo each received six-month suspended sentences and fines of 4000 euros ($6900).

Domenico Romano and Ermanno Brignoli were handed suspended sentences of five months 20 days and one month 10 days respectively.

Primo Pregnolato, who at the time worked as the personal masseur to Marco Pantani, received an eight-month suspended sentence and a 6000 euro fine.

Pantani was the hero of Italian cycling after winning both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 1998, but he was thrown out of the 1999 Giro when he failed a blood test for haemocrit, an indicator of performance-enhancing drugs.

A syringe containing insulin was found in his hotel room during the raids on the 2001 Giro.

In February 2004 he was found dead in a hotel room in Rimini after accidentally overdosing on cocaine.

- REUTERS