Fertonani tested positive for testosterone at the Tour of the Mediterranean in February.

Already suspended by his team, Caisse D'Epargne, Fertonani has contested that the positive test was due to a laboratory error

Also Thursday, the Italian Olympic Committee announced it was calling for nine more athletes to be suspended in the four-year-old "Oil for Drugs" case. One of the athletes is cyclist Alessandro Spezialetti of the Liquigas team, the same squad Danilo Di Luca rode with in his Giro d'Italia win this year.

CONI is seeking a three-month ban for Spezialetti.

Carlo Santuccione, the doctor at the center of the probe, received a lifetime ban from CONI on Monday.

Athletes already sanctioned for allegedly having ties to Santuccione include Di Luca, who was banned for three months, and former world pole vault champion Giuseppe Gibilisco, who received a two-year doping suspension.