The International Cycling Union (UCI) confirmed today that the 37-year-old (pictured top), who is currently racing for the Vini Fantini-Selle Italia team, has been provisionally suspended following the failed out of competition test taken at his home on April 29 - five days before the start of this year's Giro.

If the result is confirmed in a B-sample Di Luca could be hit with a lifetime ban as this is his third drug offence - he served a ban for testing positive for the blood boosting drug Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (Cera) at the 2009 Giro and another after winning the 2007 Giro for seeing a doctor accused of supplying doping products to athletes.

The news draw harsh criticism from Di Luca's team sports director, who branded him an "idiot".

"Di Luca is an idiot, I never wanted him," Luca Scinto told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He is ill, he needs to be helped."


Di Luca, who only signed for the Italian team last month, is currently ranked 26th in the race - 33 minutes behind the leader Vincenzo Nibali, also of Italy.

Ironically, he was quoted earlier in the week to have said: "Doping is a weakness, period.

"But it's disappeared from cycling and other sports."

Di Luca's is the second doping case from this year's Giro, after French rider Sylvain Georges, 28, tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol in a urine sample after the seventh stage.

The Ag2r-La Mondiale rider was immediately withdrawn from the race.

The race is due to finish in Brescia on Sunday (May 26) but Stage 19, which was due to be held today, was cancelled because of heavy snow.

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