Banned cyclist in Shropshire

Wednesday 6th August 2008, 11:49AM BST.

Banned Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi is to make his comeback to professional cycling in September’s Tour of Britain, which passes through Shropshire on September 10.

Stage four of the tour begins at Worcester, moves into Telford town centre, past Newport and then on towards Stoke-on-Trent.

Petacchi, 34, was suspended from competition until the end of August by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and sacked by Team Milram after returning a non-negative test for the asthma-treating drug Salbutamol in the 2007 Giro d’Italia.

He missed the 2007 Tour de France as a result, but was subsequently cleared by the Italian Cycling Federation, who blamed overuse of a supplement, for which Petacchi had medical clearance.