Kyklos: Danilo Di Luca's Bike Brand

Danilo Di Luca is getting close to launching his own bike brand in the near future: Kyklos.

His website, www.kyklosbike.it, advises "Coming Soon".

So, why has Di Luca chosen "Kyklos", a term Greek authors used to describe what they saw as the political cycle of governments in a society? A reader from Greece writes, "Kyklos just means circle. The word circle can have multiple conotations depending on its use of course... "

Di Luca's last major victory was the 2007 Giro d'Italia. In 2008 he finished second overall, winning the points classification. On 22 July 2009, it was announced that Di Luca had tested positive for CERA on 20 and 28 May 2009, during the Giro d'Italia. He was provisionally suspended with immediate effect by the UCI. On 8 August, his positive tests were confirmed. On February 1, 2010, the Italian Olympic committee (CONI) suspended him for two years (effective as of July 22, 2009) for the Giro doping incident.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Di Luca: Two Year Suspension for CERA

Danilo Di Luca has been suspended for two years by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). He tested positive for the EPO derivative CERA at the 2009 Giro d'Italia (riding for LPR). Under the decision, announced today, Di Luca must pay a fine of 280,000 Euro and costs of 2,040 Euro.

The suspension runs through July 21, 2011.

My heart goes out to the people of Abruzzo, the earthquake victims, who must feel so betrayed by one of their own.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondo, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

AbruzziAMO

AbruzziAMO (loosely translated: I Love Abruzzo) is the campaign launched by Danilo Di Luca to assist families and displaced persons of the Abruzzo earthquake of April 6th. The earthquake killed nearly 300 people and drove some 50,000 from their homes.

Pink bracelets with "AbruzziAMO"are being sold for one euro all along the Giro route to raise funds. Lance Armstrong has donned a pink bracelet to go with his yellow Livestrong bracelet, and other riders are wearing them as well.

On the evening before the Block Haus stage a fundraising soccer event was held at the “Angelini” stadium in Chieti. It was journalists vs. riders, including Paolo Bettini (scoring 3 goals), Gianni Bugno, Francesco Moser, Franco Ballerini, Maurizio Fondriest and Michele Bartoli.

Photos: Di Luca with AbuzziAMO on helmet, the soccer match at Chieti

After the Giro we'll get back to "regular programming": everything from A to Z about Italian cycling. Stories, including cycling trip stories, for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact veronaman@gmail.com.