Italian cyclist Pirazzi gets 4-year ban for pre-Giro doping

Stefano-Pirazzi.-(Dario-Belingheri/ANSA-via-AP)

Stefano Pirazzi. (Dario Belingheri/ANSA via AP)

AIGLE, Switzerland — Italian cyclist Stefano Pirazzi has been banned for four years for a positive doping test ahead of the Giro d’Italia.

The International Cycling Union says the 30-year-old Pirazzi is suspended until May 3, 2021.

The UCI says he tested positive for growth hormone-releasing peptides in training one week before the Giro began in May.

Pirazzi won the mountains classification in the 2013 Giro and a stage of the three-week race the next year.

He was fired by his Bardiani CSF team within a month of the positive test.

Pirazzi can appeal against his ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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