PARIS (Reuters) - Michele Scarponi, the 2011 Giro d'Italia champion, has been killed after being hit by a van while training close to his home in Filottrano, Italy, his Astana team said on Saturday. Scarponi, 37, left home early on Saturday morning for a training ride. "We left a great champion and a special guy, always smiling in every situation, he was ... a landmark for everyone in the Astana Pro Team." Scarponi was suspended for 18 months after being implicated in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal in 2006. Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet wrote: "We will miss this guy in the peleton, always with a smile."

Source: The Star April 22, 2017 09:06 UTC