Danilo Di Luca

Danilo Di Luca

Di Luca in 2005
Personal information
Full name	Danilo Di Luca
Nickname	The Killer from Spoltore
Born	(1976-01-02) 2 January 1976 (age 48) Spoltore, Italy
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Team information
Current team	Suspended
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber/Puncheur
Professional teams
1998	Riso Scotti
1999–2001	Cantina Tollo–Alexia Alluminio
2002–2004	Saeco–Longoni Sport
2005–2007	Liquigas–Bianchi
2008–2009	LPR Brakes–Ballan
2011	Team Katusha
2012	Acqua & Sapone
2013	Vini Fantini–Selle Italia
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia General Classification (2007) 6 individual stages Vuelta a España 2 individual stages Stage races Tour of the Basque Country (2005) One-day races and Classics Giro di Lombardia (2001) Liège–Bastogne–Liège (2007) Amstel Gold Race (2005) La Flèche Wallonne (2005) Tre Valli Varesine (2003) Milano–Torino (2007) Giro dell'Emilia (2008) Other UCI ProTour (2005)

Danilo Di Luca (born 2 January 1976) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sport.

Di Luca is also one of six riders to have won each of the three Ardennes classics; he won the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne in 2005, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2007. During his career, Di Luca rode for the Riso Scotti, Cantina Tollo–Acqua & Sapone, Saeco, Liquigas, LPR Brakes–Farnese Vini, Team Katusha, Acqua & Sapone and Vini Fantini–Selle Italia squads.^[1][2][3]

Di Luca's career was also dogged by numerous infractions, involving three suspensions in relation to doping. In 2007, Di Luca was suspended for three months towards the end of the season, for visiting previously banned doctor Carlo Santuccione, which later escalated into the Oil for Drugs case.^[4] In 2009, at the Giro d'Italia, Di Luca tested positive on two occasions^[5] for CERA,^[6] and was given a backdated – to July 2009 – two-year ban in February 2010, which was later reduced to nine months.^[7][8] His third positive test came just before the 2013 Giro d'Italia, when he tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in an out-of-competition test.^[9] Di Luca expressed surprise at the test results,^[10] but he was given a lifetime ban in December 2013.^[11]

Danilo Di Luca wrote his autobiography Bestie da Vittoria, which means "Beasts for victories". Such book is also a denunciation of the use of doping substances among cyclists and the use of anti-doping controls as a way to manipulate competition results.