Petacchi protests

The International Cycling Union have confirmed to Italian authorities that the 33-year-old Milram rider had tested for salbutamol.

A non-negative test occurs when a substance is detected which can be explained by the rider holding a medical certificate.

Petacchi, who won five stages of the Giro, is permitted to put a set amount of salbutamol in his asthma inhalers and is desperate to show any overuse was simply an oversight ahead of the Tour de France starting on July 7.

"What can I do to demonstrate my good faith?" he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Why would I have done something different from other times? I have the responsibility of the team on my shoulders, with the sponsors that are always speaking against doping.

"Yes, I may have done one spray more, but I have done nothing illegal. I do not want to lose the Tour."

REUTERS