Moreni to pay fine to get back to racing

PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Italian Cristian Moreni is to pay the International Cycling Union a year’s salary for failing an anti-doping test, the UCI said on Wednesday.

Moreni was handed a two-year ban from the sport after testing positive for testosterone during the 2007 Tour de France.

In June that year, the UCI said a rider testing positive would be suspended at least two years and would have to pay a year’s salary, with the fine being used to fund the governing body’s anti-doping programme.

“Cristian Moreni came up to our headquarters last week to find an agreement with us to pay his one-year salary fine,” UCI president Pat McQuaid, who did not disclose details of the deal, told Reuters.

“He wants to get back to racing and wants to tell his future team he is paying the fine. It shows a certain amount of character.”

Other riders who tested positive during the 2007 Tour have yet to pay up, McQuaid added.

Kazakhs Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin, as well as Dane Michael Rasmussen were all kicked out of the race for violations of anti-doping rules. They have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Vinokourov has returned to competition with the Astana team while Kashechkin, who has yet to find a team, took part in the world championship’s time trial last month with Kazakhstan.

Rasmussen is now part of the Tecos Guadalajara team.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alison Wildey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)