Italian cyclist banned from sport for 2 years over 'banned substances'

ROME, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Former Italian road-race world champion Alessandro Ballan has been banned from cycling for two years for using a "banned substance," officials said Friday.

The Italian Olympic Committee tribunal found Ballan, the 2008 world champion, to be guilty of the "use or attempted use of banned substances" Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

The tribunal based its ruling on evidence it received from a criminal investigation into the activities of his former team, Lampre. No information on this case was reported.