Suspended rider set to make his return to professional cycling three months shy of fortieth birthday next April
Italian Classics specialist, Davide Rebellin, is laying the groundwork for a return to professional cycling in 2011, following the end of a two year suspension for the use of CERA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The rider, who will be three months shy of his fortieth birthday when his suspension runs out on April 27, 2011, has a couple of powerful teams looking for his apparently still-prized signature.
Ciclismoweb reports that Italian professional continental team, De Rosa-Flaminia Ceramica as well as ProTour outfit, Astana, are interested in what might still be in the legs of the rider who hails from the town of San Bonifacio, 25 kilometers east of Verona.
Following an extended legal battle, which went all the way to the CAS, Rebellin was finally handed down a two year sanction by the Monegasque cycling federation only a couple of weeks ago. Rebellin had been out of competition since the announcement of his positive test shortly after his victory at La Fleche Wallonne in 2009 though, hence the possibility for return at the end of April, 2011.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dell Sport, the Ardennes specialist said, "I never used CERA. There will always be someone who will think that I doped. I respect that everyone has to say what he thinks, but I'm going to hold my head high."
The Ardennes hat trick winner, who calls Monte Carlo home, was stripped of his silver medal from the Beijing Olympics as well as his 75,000 euro prize. The lost silver made Fabian Cancellara the runner-up and Alexandr Kolobnev, third.