Former Pantani cycling teammate found dead
MILAN, Italy - Italian cyclist Valentino Fois, who briefly raced as a teammate of the late Marco Pantani, died Friday. He was 34.
The cyclist's brother said the cause of death was not yet known, though it might have been a pulmonary embolism. Fois was suspended for doping in 1998, and some performance-enhancing drugs have been linked to such embolisms.
Officials were to decide later Friday whether to conduct an autopsy.
Fois, who lived with his mother in a small town about 20 miles from Milan, was found dead in his bed Friday morning by his mother.
Fois was riding for the Amore e Vita team this year and had participated in several races. He won four minor races and a stage in the Tour of Poland during his professional career, which began in 1996.
The Italian cycling federation suspended Fois for three years starting in 2002 for doping, which he later admitted. Before that suspension, Fois was a teammate of Pantani, who was suspended for doping for several months and died in 2004.
Fois also was suspended for doping in 1998.
"I took, actually they gave me, DHEA," Fois said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in September 2007, referring to the steroid dehydroepiandrosterone. "It's useless to list them all. I took what everybody took. If somebody denies it, then they are a liar. We were forced to make compromises.
"I tried cocaine, but I'm not an addict. I'm just a weak kid."
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