Danilo Di Luca

Danilo Di Luca ( Spoltore , January 2 1976 ) is a former Italian cyclist .

Contents

 * 1 Biography
 * 2 Main victories
 * 3 results in major competitions
 * 4 Trivia

Biography
Di Luca was a good amateur. He won in 1998 the promise edition of the Tour of Italy and was third at the World Cup for promises behind his compatriots Ivan Basso and Rinaldo Nocentini. It earned him a professional contract for the following year at the smaller Cantina Tollo . When this team was Di Luca quickly became one of the focal points and already in his debut season he finished second in the Tour of Lombardy . Di Luca appeared to manage well in the foothills and combines that with a pretty bigsprint speed, especially if it goes uphill, which makes him a suitable rider for winning classics . Because of this he has also been nicknamed the Killer.

In his second year as a pro Di Luca recorded six wins, including a stage in the Giro. This he repeated the following year, when he was with the Tour of Lombardy furthermore won his first classic. In 2002 he went to the larger Saeco and he recorded seven victories, including a stage in the Tour of Spain . Partly because of injuries were major victories in the next two years, the principal of eight victories he achieved was a stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico .

Di Luca was allowed in 2004 did not start in the Tour because of his alleged involvement in the doping case "Oil For Drugs" (a code name that refers to the Oil-For-FoodProgramme in Iraq ) and focused on a 2004 study in which Di Luca's relationship with doctor Santuccione was investigated. In the same affair was also the name of Eddy Mazzoleni . In 2007, this matter again to the attention, and in July Di Luca had to answer for his alleged part in the case. A few days beforehand, the court ruled, however, that Di Luca would not have to appear in court and that the rider was exonerated [1] .

From 2005 to 2007 Di Luca rode with Liquigas-Bianchi . For this team, he won both the Tour of the Basque Country as his second classic, the Amstel Gold Race, and held rigid by even the Fleche Wallonne win. He is the winner of the first UCI ProTour . In 2007 he won the Tour of Italy .

From 2008 Di Luca rides for Team LPR . At the end of 2008 he was suspended for four months because of contact with an Italian doping doctor.

On 22 July 2009 it was announced that Di Luca during the Tour of Italy in 2009 had tested positive for the EPO variant CERA [2] . As of October 15, 2010 Di Luca rates may again. His suspension was shortened to nine months, due to its its cooperation in an investigation into doping.

On 28 October 2010 it was announced that Di Luca have been fine to the UCI will have to pay. The sum amounts to 280,000 euros.

On January 10, 2011 it is clear that the now 35-year-old Italian will return to cycling. After a doping suspension of eighteen months he may again call rider after he signed a contract with Team Katusha . He gets in this team no salary but will be paid based on a premium system.

On May 24, 2013 Di Luca was again caught using EPO, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. It would be a test that was conducted on April 29 at home with him. He was right out of the Tour of Italy put where he drove a few deserving results.

Major victories
1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2012
 * Baby Giro
 * Stage 2 Tour of the Basque Country
 * GP Industria & Artigianato-Larciano
 * Trofeo Pantalica
 * 5th stage Tour of Italy
 * Abruzzo round
 * Trofeo dello Scalatore
 * Tour of Lombardy
 * 4th stage Tour of Italy
 * Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 3rd and 5th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico
 * Trofeo Italia Immobilare
 * GP Fred Mengoni
 * Tour of Venice
 * 2nd stage of Tour of Spain
 * Giro della Liguria
 * 6th stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico
 * Tour of the Three Valleys
 * Coppa Placci
 * Trofeo Matteotti
 * 4th stage Tour of Murcia
 * Brixia Tour
 * Stage 1 and  general classification Tour of the Basque Country
 * Amstel Gold Race
 * Fleche Wallonne
 * 3rd and 5th stage of Tour of Italy
 * Final ranking UCI ProTour
 * 5th stage Tour of Spain
 * Milan-Turin
 * Liège-Bastogne-Liège
 * Classification, 1st (team time trial), 4th and 12th stage of Tour of Italy
 * Classification of Lombardy cycling week
 * Tour of Emilia
 * 4th, and 10th stage    Points classification Tour of Italy
 * 2nd stage of Tour of Austria
 * GP Nobili Rubinetterie

Trivia

 * Di Luca is known for his penchant for fast cars. He is a good friend of former Italian Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli .