The story started on May 23, 2007, the
11th stage of the Giro d'Italia, 198 kilometres from Serravalle Scrivia to Pinerolo. It ended in the expected mass sprint, and Team Milram's Petacchi used his unbeatable speed to take his third win of the race and his 22nd career Giro stage win. It was a hot and humid day, and the asthmatic Petacchi was suffering from the weather.
To combat his exercise-induced asthma, the Italian had an Abbreviated Therapeutic Use Exemption (ATUE) from the UCI, which allowed him to take three doses of 200 mcg of Salbutamol by inhalation each day, and three doses of 0.5 mcg of Betamethasone by aerosol. His medical prescription was for a product called Ventolin, which contains Salbutamol, to be used three times a day. Each puff from the inhaler contains 100 mcg of Salbutamol, so he was allowed six puffs a day, to reach his total of 600 mcg.
On May 23, Petacchi told the CAS, he took two puffs from his inhaler before the race, two during the race and two or three after the race. Because he won the stage, he had to undergo a doping control. The resulting urine sample was tested at the WADA laboratory in Rome, and on May 26, the lab issued its finding that the sample contained 1352 ng/ml Salbutamol. The legal limit is 1000 ng/ml for athletes with a TUE.
At the April 2 hearing, Petacchi had argued that as an asthmatic, he needed to use his inhaler more than usual on the hot and humid day during the Giro. "Unusually Mr. Petacchi had felt the need to use the inhaler after the race, only an hour before he gave his sample," the decision summarized the rider's argument. "The use after the race and shortly before he gave his sample" were allegedly the cause of the high concentration. In addition, he argued, he "may have used a sub-optimal inhalation technique" when he used the inhaler during the race
and may have inadvertently swallowed some of the medication.
The CAS panel accepted most of these arguments, but still found him guilty. Petacchi did not show that the 1352 ng/ml concentration of Salbutamol was within the legal limits. "The Panel is not satisfied, on the basis of probabilities, that result was the consequence of him inhaling Salbutamol in accordance with his ATUE."
However, it accepted his explanation that the high concentration of Salbutamol "was that he took too many puffs of his Ventolin inhaler on that day, including some after the race," It also noted that "Mr. Petacchi accepts that he may not have complied precisely with the authorised dose of 600 mcg," as well as the fact that some of the puffs were taken only an hour before the doping control.
"Mr. Petacchi's fault can be characterised as administering an excess of therapy by taking more than six puffs of Ventolin," he panel found. "As an additional relevant circumstance, the Panel notes that Mr. Petacchi states that he took 2-3 puffs after the race which could support a view that Mr. Petacchi had, in taking the puffs, no intention to enhance his performance."