Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) makes his season debut this weekend at the 13th GP Costa degli Etruschi as he faces an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month over elevated levels of Salbutamol dating back to last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Petacchi has won the sprint-friendly one-day race three times in a row and will be keen to start his 2008 season off on a winning note following a scandal-plagued year that saw him face down a possible one-year ban for alleged abuses of Salbutamol.

“The first race of the year is always special for me,” Petacchi said in a team communiqué. “The GP Costa degli Etruschi takes place about 100km from my hometown, so my whole family is there every year. Of course, that gives me extra motivation. I hope that we can go well organized into the mass sprint directly at the beginning of the season. Naturally, I want to repeat my victory of the last years.”

Petacchi, 34, is also scheduled to meet with the media on Friday and it will be interesting to see how he handles any questions about his controversial Salbutamol case.

The Italian sprinter was forced to miss the 2007 Tour de France after the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) pressed unsuccessfully for a one-year ban after he revealed elevated levels of Salbutamol, the acting agent in inhalers popular among the peloton.

Petacchi tested “non-negative” following post-stage anti-doping controls taken in Pinerolo on May 23, the third of what would be five stage victories in the 2007 Giro.

The test revealed Petacchi had levels of Salbutamol at 1320ng/ml, above the UCI-designated limit of 1000ng/ml. The UCI says that high levels of Salbutamol can have an anabolic and stimulating effect.

Once notified by the UCI, officials from CONI wanted to slap him with a one-year ban.

Petacchi, however, produced a therapeutic use exemption issued by the UCI that allowed use of the inhaler to treat asthma.

The Italian cycling federation later dropped the case without issuing a ban.

Bolstered by that decision, Petacchi called it “the most beautiful win of my life” and returned to racing late last season. He picked up wins at the Regio Tour and two stages at the Vuelta a España.

“After a 12-year career and 140 races won, I can only say that I had no reason to ruin my career with a Ventolin inhaler,” he told journalists last summer. “At the last Giro, I did nothing different from all other times. … I have always believed that I did nothing wrong and now I can leave with my head held high.”

That’s not the end of the story, however.

Both CONI and the UCI have appealed the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A hearing is scheduled for March 12.

Milram for GP Costa degli Etruschi
Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
Volodymyr Diudia (Ukr)
Matej Jurco (Svk)
Martin Muller (Ger)
Alberto Ongarato (Ita)
Marco Velo (Ita)
Elia Rigotto (Ita)
Fabio Sabatini (Ita)
Niki Terpstra (Ned)