Gavazzi puts coke addiction behind him

SENAWANG, Malaysia: Five years ago, Mattia Gavazzi was a cocaine addict. Now he dreams of emulating his father Pierino, who won the Milan-San Remo classic in 1980 and five Giro d'Italia stages.

Gavazzi, 25, was suspended for 14 months after testing positive for cocaine in 2004 when he was still an amateur. The Italian federation also ordered him to follow a rehabilitation program and that is probably what saved him.

"He started cycling when he was very young," his manager at Team Serramenti-Diquigiovanni, Gianni Savio, told media after his protege won the first stage of the Tour de Langkawi, in Malaysia, on Monday.