The UCI has acknowledged that the police search that led to the termination of Andrea Piccolo’s contract with EF Training-EasyPost was carried out following an investigation by the Worldwide Testing Company (ITA).
Late on Friday night, EF Training-EasyPost revealed that Piccolo had been stopped by Italian legislation enforcement authorities earlier that day “on suspicion of transporting Human Development Hormone”.
A report in La Gazzetta dello Sport indicated that Piccolo was stopped at an Italian airport. It was believed that he had not too long ago been coaching in Colombia, and he was as a result of journey the Italian championships on Sunday.
In an announcement on Saturday, the UCI stated that Piccolo had been underneath investigation by the ITA, who had been collaborating on the case with the Italian anti-doping company and Italian police.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has taken be aware of the assertion made by UCI WorldTeam EF Training–EasyPost on 21 June 2024, saying the workforce’s speedy termination of its contract with Italian rider Andrea Piccolo as a result of suspicion of transporting human development hormone (hGH),” learn the assertion.
“The search performed on the rider is the results of an investigation led by the Worldwide Testing Company (ITA) and its shut collaboration with the Nationwide Anti-Doping Organisation of Italy (NADO Italia) and Italian legislation enforcement authorities (NAS Carabinieri). The UCI welcomes this collaboration and can assess any additional motion that could be needed on this respect.”
Of their assertion on Friday night, EF stated that they’d suspended Piccolo with out pay in March after he had used “a sleeping help that was not authorised by the workforce, although authorized”. The workforce acknowledged they’d reported the utilization to the UCI on the time, and so they additionally claimed that they’d tried to dismiss Piccolo at that time. “Attributable to authorized causes surrounding the UCI commonplace rider contract, we had been unable to terminate his contract on the time,” continued the assertion.
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But regardless of the incident, Piccolo was nonetheless chosen for the Giro d’Italia in Might. It was Piccolo’s first race since March, when he withdrew from Paris-Good forward of stage 6. EF stated on the time that he had deserted Paris-Good as a result of a shoulder harm.
EF supervisor Jonathan Vaughters instructed the Escape Collective web site that Piccolo had alerted him of the search by way of textual content message, writing: “Jonathan I communicate to you sincerely as a result of I’ve already misplaced all the things and I’m conscious of this… I’ve taken 4 medicines from Colombia that I don’t wish to identify, I wish to take my accountability for this… They discovered them and confiscated them on the airport.”
Below the WADA code, “the Trafficking or Tried Trafficking in any Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Methodology”, carries a minimal suspension of 4 years. Il Corriere della Sera has reported that Piccolo can also be “virtually sure” to face felony prices in addition to a sporting sanction.
Piccolo turned skilled with Astana in 2021 however he left the workforce halfway by means of the season for “private well being causes” with out ever racing for them. He competed in Italian nationwide workforce colors later within the marketing campaign earlier than becoming a member of Gazprom at first of 2022.
He was launched from his Gazprom contract when the workforce was suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After a short spell with Gianni Savio’s DroneHopper squad, Piccolo signed with EF in August 2022.
Piccolo made his Grand Tour debut eventually 12 months’s Vuelta a España, carrying the pink jersey for a day. The 23-year-old started his 2024 season with a outstanding sequence of attacking shows on the Tour Colombia, having educated within the nation throughout the low season.
