T﷽wo Italian cyclists tested positive for EPO in June, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI)🌳 announced Thursday. The first, Giovanni Carini (Pagnoncelli NGC Perrel), tested positive after the Elite without contract category at the Italian Championships in Boltiere. The second, Paolo Bossoni (Lampre), returned a positive the following day after the elite men's road race.

This is the second consecutive year the Italian championship🐷s have been tainted byܫ an EPO positive. In 2007, Luca Ascani controlled positive for the blood booster and was stripped of the elite men's time trial title.

Bossoni, who placed sixth in the race which wa꧂s won by the outspoken anti-doping rider Filippo Simeoni, was suspended by his Lampre team. He will not take part in the upcoming Clásica San Sebasti&aacu♏te;n, and no substitution will be made for that race.