The UCI has acknowledged that the police search that led to the termination of Andrea Piccolo’s contract with EF Education-EasyPost was carried out following an investigation by the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Late on Friday night, EF Education-EasyPost revealed that Piccolo had been stopped by Italian legislation enforcement authorities earlier that day “on suspicion of transporting Human Growth 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 attributable to experience the Italian championships on Sunday.
In an announcement on Saturday, the UCI mentioned that Piccolo had been below 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 notice of the assertion made by UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost on 21 June 2024, asserting the crew’s speedy termination of its contract with Italian rider Andrea Piccolo attributable to suspicion of transporting human progress hormone (hGH),” learn the assertion.
“The search performed on the rider is the results of an investigation led by the International Testing Agency (ITA) and its shut collaboration with the National 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 obligatory on this respect.”
In their assertion on Friday night, EF mentioned that they’d suspended Piccolo with out pay in March after he had used “a sleeping help that was not permitted by the crew, although authorized”. The crew 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. “Due to authorized causes surrounding the UCI customary rider contract, we have been unable to terminate his contract on the time,” continued the assertion.
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Yet regardless of the incident, Piccolo was nonetheless chosen for the Giro d’Italia in May. It was Piccolo’s first race since March, when he withdrew from Paris-Nice forward of stage 6. EF mentioned on the time that he had deserted Paris-Nice attributable to 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 converse to you sincerely as a result of I’ve already misplaced the whole lot and I’m conscious of this… I’ve taken 4 drugs from Colombia that I don’t wish to title, I wish to take my duty for this… They discovered them and confiscated them on the airport.”
Under the WADA code, “the Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking in any Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method”, carries a minimal suspension of 4 years. Il Corriere della Sera has reported that Piccolo can also be “nearly sure” to face legal fees in addition to a sporting sanction.
Piccolo turned skilled with Astana in 2021 however he left the crew halfway by way of the season for “private well being causes” with out ever racing for them. He competed in Italian nationwide crew colors later within the marketing campaign earlier than becoming a member of Gazprom firstly of 2022.
He was launched from his Gazprom contract when the crew 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 yr’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 in the course of the low season.