Two cyclists face EPO ban

A happier Strazzer after winning a Giro D'Italia stage

Italy's Massimo Strazzer and Spain's Juan Llaneras are facing six-month bans from cycling after failing doping tests for the banned substance EPO.

Strazzer and Llaneras returned the "non-negative findings" in tests carried out in Belgium at the World Track Championships.

Llaneras won a silver medal in the American discipline and Strazzer competed in the four-man pursuit.

Either they have made a mistake or someone is doing this out of spite

Massimo Strazzer

At the moment the riders are considered innocent until the result of the second sample is made known, but if that confirms the finding of the first, they will both face six-month bans.

"I feel as if I am having a bad dream," Strazzer told Gazzetto dello Sport.

"I could not believe it when they told me. I have more than enough confidence in myself - I don't need to rely on doping.

"I will contest it to the end. Either they have made a mistake or someone is doing this out of spite."

The national federations of both men have been informed by the International Cycling Union.