The positive doping test of 2008 Bejing Olympics road race silver medalist Davide Rebellin has prompted the authorities to dig deeper into the case. Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that houses of the cyclists relatives as well as the office of doctor Enrico Lazzaro have been raided by police.
The fact that this is high profile now that the Olympics are involved will mean the resources needed to uncover a doping network, should one exist, will likely be available.
After Austrian Bernard Kohl admitted to cheating his way to third place and the King of the Mountains prize in last years Tour de France, his government has been on a crusade to squash the bad press the received for their relaxed stance on doping.
Rebellin and his wife Celina were under investigation in 2001 because of video footage said to have shown the cyclist purchasing EPO and testosterone. Apparently legal problems with how the video was obtained meant it could not be used in court so the cyclist was never convicted.
The Italian continues to protest his innocence, and has requested the testing of the B sample from the Olympics. The French-Malabry Chateney lab is scheduled to do the analysis on May 28th. Should the result come up positive, this years Fleche Wallone winner will be Andy Schleck. It would also give Olympic Time-Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara a silver medal in the road race, and team Saxo Bank’s Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev the bronze. Rebellin also won two stages in the Vuelta a Andalucia earlier this year.