22/06/2024

UCI react to news of Andrea Piccolo's doping case - "The UCI welcomes this collaboration and will assess any further action"

The UCI has confirmed and acknowledged the action taken by EF Education-EasyPost against Italian rider Andrea Piccolo. The American team has fired one of it's top riders after finding out about the possible transportation of Human Growth Hormone.

In the same message, the team revealed that he was internally suspended for a few weeks back in March after taking non-authorized sleeping aid - whilst the consequences were in no way severe; he was selected to race the Giro d'Italia. "On June 21, Piccolo was stopped by Italian authorities upon entering the country on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone," EF Education-EasyPost wrote in a statement published last night. "Our organization will cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities."

The 23-year old classics rider was a key part of the team's block and was also briefly in the lead of the Vuelta a España last year.

Andrea Piccolo fired by EF Education-EasyPost on suspicion of transporting banned substances

The UCI has reacted this Saturday afternoon with the following message: "The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has taken note of the statement made by UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost on 21 June 2024, announcing the team’s immediate termination of its contract with Italian rider Andrea Piccolo due to suspicion of transporting human growth hormone (hGH)*.

It is not known yet what consequences this case will lead to, but what is known for certainty is that the Italian has been kicked out of the World Tour and isn't expected to make a return any time soon whilst this situation is ongoing. "The search conducted on the rider is the result of an investigation led by the International Testing Agency (ITA) and its close collaboration with the National Anti-Doping Organisation of Italy (NADO Italia) and Italian law enforcement authorities (NAS Carabinieri). The UCI welcomes this collaboration and will assess any further action that may be necessary in this respect."