Italian cyclist Ricco to face 12-year ban

Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco could face a 12-year ban for doping following the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni)'s commanding on Wednesday. Ricco ended up in hospital in February with kidney problems after apparently trying to give himself a blood transfusion. He has since claimed he was merely injecting himself with an iron solution but experts have said that would not have produced the symptoms he was suffering from in hospital. The disgraced cycling rider has already served a two-year ban for doping during the 2008 Tour de France, during which he was found to have taken the banned blood-booster CERA.