ROME, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) – Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) officials hit Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco hard on Thursday by increasing a prosecutors’ request for a 20-month doping ban to two years.

Ricco, 24, was suspended from riding by CONI in July after admitting to using a new strain of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) during this year’s Tour de France.

After winning two stages, Ricco was kicked off the race with his team Saunier Duval, who later sacked him, after a urine sample from the fourth stage time-trial tested positive.

He initially protested his innocence but following a meeting with CONI officials, the Italian admitted to his offense, even criticizing testing procedures because he had passed many tests despite being doped.

Until recently, the new strain of EPO used by Ricco, called CERA (Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator), was notoriously difficult to detect. And since July, French experts have also pioneered a blood sample test for CERA which they say is even more efficient.

CONI confirmed the details of Ricco’s suspension to Bicycle.net on Thursday.

According to the Ansa news agency his sanction entails bans of 18 months for the EPO doping offense and a further six months for having consulted disgraced doctor Carlo Santuccione.

Santuccione is suspected of playing a key role in a doping affair which came to be known as “Oil for drugs”, and in December 2007 was served a life ban from working with athletes.

Ricco on Thursday admitted he was “very disappointed and bitter” at the ban, and said he had hoped for “more understanding” from CONI.

The public prosecutor had originally requested a 20-month ban for Ricco, who will be free to ride again from July 30, 2010.

The 24-year-old Italian, known for his brash attitude off the bike and his daring attacks on it, won two climbing stages at this year’s Tour, at Super-Besse and then at Bagneres-de-Bigorre.

But days later, on July 17, Ricco and his team were forced off the race when it was revealed a urine sample taken after the fourth stage time trial had tested positive for CERA.