Team Milram spokesman Andrea Agostini said Petacchi will "definitely not be racing" in the Tour, which starts Saturday in London.

On Wednesday, Italian Olympic Committee doping prosecutors recommended the Italian cycling federation ban the 33-year-old for one year for returning a "non negative" test for the asthma drug salbutamol during the 21-stage Giro, which ran May to June.

Petacchi, who suffers from asthma, is authorized to use a certain amount of salbutamol as part of his regular medication, although elevated levels of the drug can have performance-enhancing effects. He denies cheating.

Petacchi, a specialist sprinter, won five stages during this year's Giro.

Agostini also said Thursday that Team Milram manager Gianluigi Stanga will not be at the Tour following German rider Joerg Jaksche's allegations last week that Stanga supported doping while working for the Polti team in 1997. Stanga denied the allegations Monday.

Also, pole vaulter Giuseppe Gibilisco and cyclist Domenico Quagliarello were questioned by Italian Olympic Committee doping prosecutors in a four-year-old probe known as the "Oil For Drugs" case.

Gibilisco, the 2003 world pole vault champion and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, requested his hearing after refusing to answer questions relating to the case last week. He is accused of "the use or attempted use of a banned substance or method," but denies doping.

Quagliarello, who rides for the Flaminia team, was questioned for the first time. He denied any involvement.

Gibilisco risks a two-year suspension, while Quagliarello, who was suspended in 2002 for a separate doping offense, faces a lifetime ban if found guilty of a second infringement.

Several Italian athletes and doctors have been implicated in the probe, including Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca and third-place finisher Eddy Mazzoleni.

Mazzoleni is set to be questioned July 13 and Di Luca a day later.