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TDF Update: Ricco tests positive
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by kferaday | July 17, 2008 at 04:45 am
325 views | 24 Recommendations | 10 comments
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It's another sad and controversial day for cycling. When we should be celebrating what has been one of the most exciting Tour in recent memory, another idiot who thought he could game the system has been caught. Ricco has been caught using a new, third generation of EPO. The good news is that the doping controls are picking these up and catching the cheats.
And while it's disappointing that a major player has been caught, it's not a surprise that it's Ricco. He has long idolized Pantani, and even uses his soigneur. The race organizers have targetted 10 suspicious riders based on either their bio passports or anomalies in the tests done on all riders at the beginning of the Tour. So far three have been ejected. There may have been one or two more who have withdrawn with "illnesses". Let's hope the other dopers get the point and slink away before they get caught.
Italian rider Riccardo Riccò of Saunier Duval has tested positive for blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO), French sports daily L'Equipe reported on its website on Thursday. According to the paper's Damien Ressiot, one of the climber's urine samples collected by the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD showed traces of a third generation EPO called CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator).
The team has pulled out of the Tour. Saunier Duval's directeur sportif, Joxean Fernandez Matxin, was surprised as anybody. "We only found out ten minutes ago. The entire team is ceasing its operation, not only in the Tour de France."
Riccò, who won two stages in the Tour de France (the sixth and ninth), was ninth on general classification before the news broke on Thursday morning. The Italian's impressive performances have in the past been explained by his naturally high hematocrit level.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 05:01 on July 17th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 07:51 on July 17th, 2008
kferaday, this really isn't a shock, as you say, it's unfortunate that we now look at Ricco's impressive escapes in the Pyrenees under the light of this new evidence... as well as the strong performance of his team. His team Saunier Duval has now removed all their riders from all races "until they know how this could have happened".
It's curious, and maybe I'm being cynical, that traces of a new generation EPO were found in his blood for which it was commonly thought there was no test. Makes one think that maybe the there was a systematic case of doping here by a team that thought they were one step ahead of the tests. Further test results may confirm this dour and hopefully overly negative possiblilty. Held in contrast to the reactions to the Liquigas and Barloworld reactions earlier this week, though, and the fact that all the riders caught so far are Spanish, it is worrying.
at 08:20 on July 17th, 2008
Systematic doping could be a reason why the whole team pulled out. Ricco is Italian BTW, I think from the same region as Pantani.
at 08:30 on July 17th, 2008
Right, good point about Ricco being Italian, I was thinking of the Saunier Duval team. While Beltran and Duenas are Spanish riding for Italian and South African squads, respectively.
at 07:55 on July 17th, 2008
Good stuff.
at 08:34 on July 17th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story.
at 09:04 on July 17th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story. It's good stuff. Great footage of that worm being hauled off to jail.
at 09:20 on July 17th, 2008
kferaday, I like this story. It's good stuff.
That is such a shame for the other competitors. I can never understand why some people work so hard to get to this level in their careers and then practically give it all away. So confusing to me.
at 06:26 on July 18th, 2008
Money, fame, money, fame, money, money.....
at 07:01 on July 18th, 2008
It now seems that the Saunier Duval team has sacked both Ricco and his team-mate Leonardo Piepoli, who won stage 10 of this year's tour to Hautacam. No test results have been released for Piepoli but his team has suggested that there is substantial suspicion of doping practices.