Doping: new revelations in the Andrea Piccolo case, a shock to Rigoberto Urán’s team

The doping scandal that recently broke out within the E-cycling teamDucation Easy Post by Rigoberto Uran and Esteban Chaves has a new chapter, as the immense shock caused by the arrest of its runner is revealed Andrea Piccolo cwith prohibited substances.

Piccolo was entering his country, Italy, but was arrested and accused of transporting growth hormone, so once the news became known, his team unilaterally terminated his contract and he now faces sporting and criminal sanctions.

Earthquake

The same runner, in a message via chat to Jonathan Vaughters, The team manager confessed that he had bought the medicines in Colombia and that he did not want to harm the group.

“Jonathan, I am speaking to you sincerely because I have already lost everything and I am aware of this… I have bought four medications from Colombia. I do not want to name them, I want to take responsibility for this… They were found and confiscated at the airport,” was the message that Piccolo sent to the manager, who spoke to the website Escape Collective.

The manager spoke again and apologized to the riders, as he was the one who brought the group to Piccolo, “Team sponsors EF Education-EasyPost appear to have maintained their support for the team, but Vaughters wanted to take responsibility for signing Piccolo in 2022 and giving him a second chance this spring when he was caught using the unauthorized sleeping medication. clonazepam”, said www.cyclinews.com

The sports director spoke

Vaughters, before the Tour de France, He said: “I am the person who gave him the opportunity, who brought him to the team, and I apologize for that because now they are going to ask questions about him and it is something they have to deal with,” he said. David Walsh from the Times.

Another one who spoke was the sports director Charly Wegeliuswho highlighted the great damage that Piccolo had done.

“What makes me angry is that he was able to do this. I spend 150 days a year away from my family, working with you because you are doing things right. If you weren’t doing this, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.

“What really bothers me is that people see what Piccolo has done and accuse Jonathan. I know what Jonathan and this team represent, and that’s why it hurts me,” he said.

“What kills me the most is not the hate I’m going to receive, as if I were to say ‘Oh, he’s a hypocrite when he says that cycling is clean’. I’m almost inoculated against that. What makes me sad is that young people today don’t deserve any of that. They are good young people who mostly compete cleanly and the sad thing about this case is that it will rekindle doubt, suspicion, cynicism,” the manager said.

cyclingnews.com noted that “Piccolo won a bronze medal at the Junior World Time Trial Championships in 2018 and then at the prestigious stage race in Lunigiana Turn. He turned professional with the Astana at 19, but never competed with them and returned to the Italian under-23 ranks after a few difficult months. He joined Gazprombut then the team closed, but he kept his professional career alive with a stage in the team Drone Hopper by Gianni Savio“.

“Piccolo seemed to travel between Colombia and Italy between the blocks of races this season. What he didn’t know is that after EF Education-EasyPost informed the UCI about his case of sleeping medication, the agency ITA Anti-Doping and Italy’s anti-doping police began tracking his movements,” the specialist website added.

And he concluded: “On his return from Colombia, before the I
talian national championship, in mid-June, the Italian customs police were waiting for him at the airport in Milan. His career ended in a split second when hGH was discovered.”