Matteo Spreafico was dismissed from his team, Vini Zabou Blado-KTM, after reporting two adverse analytical results for Enobosarm, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) known as Ostarine, at the Giro d'Italia.

The 27-year-old Italian racer submitted positive samples of the substance on October 15 and 16, i.e., during the 12th and 13th stages of the race; he had been with the Spreafico professional team for less than three months after joining from Androni Giocattoli Cidermec in August

Vini.

Angelo Citracca, general manager of Vini Zabù-Brado-KTM, told La Gazzetta dello Sport that Spreafico confessed to Italian police that his rider had been using drugs to build muscle and aid weight loss. He said his rider had ordered supplements over the Internet containing drugs that were claimed to build muscle and help with weight loss.

"The prosecutor's office in Rimini sent a couple of plainclothes carabinieri.

"The boy confessed that he had purchased these supplements over the Internet and handed them in, after which his room was checked and a report prepared. A check by a doctor revealed no "blitz" or drugs. Spreafico took full responsibility."

Citracca added that the team "reserves the right to seek damages."

Spreafico, who turned pro in 2017 and won the 2018 Vuelta a Vensuela, faces a four-year ban from the sport, which could be reduced if he can prove that the anti-doping violation was unintentional.

In August, Luca Colnaghi, an under-23 rider for the famous Zarf-Euromobil-Desiré Fior team, tested positive for the same substance at the European Championships in Giro delle Miglia and Puruai. His team issued a statement claiming that the young rider had inadvertently ingested a ketone-based supplement.

The Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) notified the Italian authorities of Spreafico's positive test.

The law, which was enacted in 2000, provides that "the use of drugs ... . who procures it shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to three years and a fine from 5 million to 100 million lire (€2,488 to €49,750)".

Although no Italian professional cyclist has been imprisoned for doping, Dario Frigo received a six-month suspended sentence in 2005 as a result of the infamous Sanremo Blitz at the 2001 Giro d'Italia, and Riccardo Ricco was sentenced in 2008 received a two-month suspended sentence for a positive CERA test at the Tour de France.