CYCLING:GIRO RUNNER-UP Danilo Di Luca has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned blood booster Cera, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said yesterday.

“The decision to provisionally suspend Mr Di Luca was made in response to a report from the Wada-accredited laboratory in Paris indicating an adverse analytical finding of recombinant EPO (Cera) in blood samples collected from him at the Giro d’Italia on May 20th and May 28th 2009,” the UCI said in a statement.

Italian Di Luca, 33, faces a two-year suspension should his B sample return positive.