3x-Italian cycling champ Visconti banned 3 months

ROME (AP) - Three-time Italian cycling champion Giovanni Visconti has been banned for three months for seeing banned physician Michele Ferrari.

The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping court also hit Visconti with a $13,000 fine. Former Giro d'Italia champion Michele Scarponi received an identical sentence this week for seeing Ferrari.

Ferrari was banned for life by the Italian cycling federation in 2002. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency also banned Ferrari for life this year after its inquiry of Lance Armstrong, whom Ferrari advised.

Visconti's ban was backdated to Oct. 8 and will expire on Jan. 7, meaning he won't miss any races.