Pantani given suspended sentence

Pantani (right) will be making an appeal

Italian cycling star Marco Pantani received a three-month suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of "sporting fraud", his lawyer told reporters on Monday.

Gaetano Insolera said the former Tour de France winner had been handed the sentence by Judge Luisa Del Bianco, following a three-month investigation into doping charges.

Insolera said that Pantani, known as "Il Pirata" (The Pirate) because of his penchant for wearing earrings and bandanas, would be appealing against the decision.

The case centred on a reading of 60.1% red blood cell level detected in Pantani's blood after he was taken to hospital in October 1995, following a fall in the Milan-Turin road race.

Wild fluctuations

A level higher than 50% is taken as an indicator - not proof - that a rider has taken the banned substance EPO, which is used by endurance athletes to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood.

Pantani was not present at any of the hearings.

Professor Massimo Cartesegna, who had attended to Pantani at the hospital after his accident, told the court that the cyclist's haematocrit level - the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total volume of the blood - had fluctuated wildly in the space of a day.

Disappointing year

Cartesegna said that such readings led him to suspect Pantani had been using EPO.

Pantani has always denied using the substance. His lawyer said the cyclist attributed the haematocrit reading to dehydration after he had returned from altitude training in Colombia.

Pantani has had a disappointing 2000. He dropped out of the Tour de France and was unplaced in the road race at the Olympics.