Former world cycling champion Marta Bastianelli is to appeal to world sport's highest tribunal over Wednesday's one-year ban for doping, her lawyer said.
The lawyer, Giuseppe Napoleone, said he would go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to clear his client's name.
Napoleone said he had phone transcripts allegedly showing that Bastianelli ''innocently'' consulted her family doctor about a diet product recommended by a pharmacist.
He said the product contained the banned substance detected in a July test that forced the cyclist to skip the Olympics and stopped her defending her 2007 world title.
Napoleone said he was confident of removing the stain on his client's reputation because new rules to be applied by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January give authorities more discretion in such cases.
''We're going ahead to get the best result and free Marta from this blot,'' he said.
