Italy's Davide Rebellin competes en route to a silver medal in the men's road race at the Beijing Olympic Games. Italy's Davide Rebellin competes en route to a silver medal in the men's road race at the Beijing Olympic Games. (Christophe Ena/Canadian Press)

Cyclist Davide Rebellin of Italy will be stripped of his silver medal in the road race from the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of doping.

The Italian Olympic Committee said it received instructions from the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

Rebellin was one of five athletes who allegedly tested positive earlier this year in new methods using retroactive blood samples taken at the Games.

All denied they had been involved in doping.

Rebellin will become the first Italian athlete stripped of an Olympic medal for doping. He will have to return a $110,000 US prize.

Samuel Sanchez of Spain won the road race in Beijing, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland finished third and Alexander Kolobnev of Russia was fourth. The medals could be redistributed.

The other athletes from Beijing who tested positive were 1,500-metre champion Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, German cyclist Stefan Schumacher, Croatian 800-metre runner Vanja Perisic, and Greek race walker Athanasia Tsoumeleka.

Rebellin was immediately suspended by the Italian committee when the IOC announced the positive test in April. He was also suspended by his team at the time, Diquigiovanni-Androni, even though Rebellin rode for Gerolsteiner at the Olympics.

The Italian Olympic Committee will open disciplinary proceedings against Rebellin.

A specialist at long single-day races, Rebellin won the Amstel Gold Race, Walloon Arrow and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2004.