by Justin Davis

NARBONNE, France, July 18, 2008 (AFP) – Liquigas manager Stefano Zanatta
has admitted the latest doping scandal to hit the Tour de France is also a
major blow to Italian cycling.

The race was rocked on Thursday by news of Riccardo Ricco’s positive test
for banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), the Italian becoming the third
cyclist to leave the race after Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas of Spain.

Zanatta believes the fall from grace of one of Italy’s top cycling stars
will reflect badly on Italian cycling as a whole, but also on Ricco’s past
results, including this season’s runner-up finish in the Giro d’Italia.

“I believe things are changing for better in the sport, but there’s always
going to be someone who doesn’t respect the rules,” Zanatta told AFP prior to
the race’s 13th stage here Friday.

“What has happened with Ricco, I hope, is an isolated case – but there’s no
doubt it looks bad. It looks bad on him, for his fans and on the sport of
cycling in Italy.”

He added: “Ricco passed all the anti-doping controls at the Giro, but now
some people are going to be looking at his results and wondering. It’s
inevitable.”

Ricco, a brash 24-year-old climber regarded as aloof and arrogant by much
of the peloton, came into the Tour declaring which stages he would like to win.

The Italian promptly won stage six at Super-Besse in the Massif Central,
and the first stage in the Pyrenees at Bagneres-de-Bigorre, the next day
watching teammate Leonardo Piepoli claim a prestigions win atop the Hautacam.

Ricco did not get as far as the 15th stage’s summit finish at Prato Nevoso
climb in Italy. He was still in police custody Friday morning following the
news of his EPO positive from the fourth stage time trial.

Zanatta can fully empathise with Thursday’s events.

The full glare of the doping spotlight fell on Liquigas when Beltran, a
former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, was revealed as a
cheat.

And the imminent arrival to the team of Italian star Ivan Basso, who will
soon return from a doping ban relating to the Operation Puerto affair, has
shed some controversy on his team.

Zanatta confirmed that the 37-year-old Beltran, who is currently suspended,
will be sacked if the analysis on a B sample – due out next week – confirms
his first doping positive.

“For us, it remains an isolated case,” added Zanatta, although the Italian
admitted his team had not yet established the kind of strict internal
anti-doping programme currently being used by CSC, Columbia and Garmin.

“We don’t have that kind of system in place yet, but all our riders are
regularly subject to random tests. I hope we can show that we’ve nothing to
hide.”