OME, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Italian cycling coach Franco Ballerini will appear before magistrates
next week to answer doping charges dating back to 1998, the year he won the Paris-Roubaix
classic, La Gazzetta dello Sport said on Monday. Ballerini, two-times winner of the world's most
demanding one-day race, said he had nothing to fear from his court appearance on January 14 in
Pistoia near Florence.
"I can't wait... to end this once and for all. I know I have nothing to worry about," Ballerini told
the sports daily.
"In my case they won't find anything compromising," the 39-year-old added.
News agency Ansa reported that Ballerini's name, along with those of eight other cyclists, had been
given to investigators by a pharmacist, who said he had prepared doping doses for them.
Cycling in Italy has been rocked by doping in recent years. In 2001 police from Florence and Padua
searched the hotels of riders taking part on the Giro d'Italia, discovering large quantities of
illegal drugs.
In 2002 several riders were arrested and leading cyclists Stefano Garzelli and Gilberto Simoni were
forced to leave the race after failing dope tests.