Riccardo Riccò

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Riccardo Riccò

Riccò in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Riccardo Riccò
Nickname	The Cobra
Date of birth	September 1, 1983 (1983-09-01) (age 26)
Country	Italy
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb)
Team information
Current team	None
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing Specialist
Professional team(s)1
2006–2008 2010–	Saunier Duval-Prodir Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
Major wins
Giro d'Italia, 3 stages Giro d'Italia, Young Rider jersey (2008) Tirreno-Adriatico, Points jersey and 2 stages (2007)
Infobox last updated on:
July 18, 2008 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Riccardo Riccò (born 1 September 1983 in Formigine) is a professional road bicycle racer from Italy. Born in Formigine, Emilia-Romagna, Riccò rode on the UCI ProTeam Saunier Duval-Scott. He was ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Saunier Duval (2006-2008) 2 2008 Tour de France doping scandal 2.1 Positive test 2.2 The hearing and verdict 3 Major results 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Career

He joined UCI ProTeam Saunier Duval-Prodir in 2006 after two successful seasons as an amateur rider, during which he won the Settimana Bergamasca. Prior to joining the team he tried to become a professional with Ceramica Panaria-Navigare in 2005 but wasn't allowed because several blood tests revealed his hematocrit levels exceeded those acceptable. Saunier Duval's sportif director, Mauro Gianetti, suggested he spend a week in the UCI laboratory in Lausanne to prove that his blood values were natural. Further exhaustive tests by the UCI confirmed that Riccò´s hematocrit level was naturally over 50%. This has since been questioned however when, on July 17, 2008, it was revealed that Riccò had a non negative test for EPO, the hematocrit boosting drug, following the stage 4 time trial at Cholet.^[1][2] It has since been suggested by fellow pro-rider Jérôme Pineau that Riccò openly doped even as a junior rider^[3].

[edit] Saunier Duval (2006-2008)

Riccò's breakthrough came during the 2007 Tirreno-Adriatico, when he won two consecutive stages and the Points Classification. He also won a stage and finished second in Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali. He then finished ninth in Amstel Gold Race and sixth in La Flèche Wallonne in his first ever appearance in the Ardennes Classics.^[4] He rode the Giro d'Italia as a domestique of team leader Gilberto Simoni and in the process he took the 15th stage at Tre Cime di Lavaredo ahead of his team-mate Leonardo Piepoli. He would finish sixth overall, seven minutes behind eventual winner Danilo Di Luca. In the season finale Giro di Lombardia, he finished second after losing a two-man sprint against Damiano Cunego.

In 2008, Riccò rode the Giro d'Italia as team leader, and impressed in the mountains, taking two stage victories, the young rider's classification, and was 2nd overall in the general classification, 1:57 behind winner Alberto Contador. It is suspected that Riccò's performance was not clean. Doping expert Michel Audran has stated that CERA was in use by some riders in the 2008 Giro^[5] CERA is the supposedly untraceable third generation EPO used by Riccò in the Tour de France weeks later.

On July 10, 2008, Riccò won stage 6 of the Tour de France with a hilltop finish at Super-Besse giving him his first Tour de France stage win. There were, however, some rumors saying that test results revealed abnormalities in his blood level. The team and the athlete claimed there were no doping issues, however, since Riccò has a naturally high hematocrit level. He reportedly has a UCI certificate attesting to an hematocrit of 51%, 50% being considered the accepted upper limit since 1997. Three days later he experienced his second win at stage 9 of the Tour de France with a break away climb of the Col d'Aspin.

[edit] 2008 Tour de France doping scandal

[edit] Positive test

On July 17, 2008, Riccò tested positive for the banned blood booster Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (or CERA, a variant of Erythropoietin),^[6] from a sample taken following the fourth stage, making him the third rider to test positive for this substance in the 2008 Tour de France after Moisés Dueñas of Barloworld and Manuel Beltrán of Liquigas. He was immediately ejected from the Tour and his team Saunier Duval withdrew of their own volition. Saunier Duval announced the next day that team manager Mauro Gianetti had "lost faith in" Riccò and that he had been fired from the team^[7] He spent the night at the police station^[8] and was indicted on charges of "use of poisonous substances". Riccò denied the charges and told RAI television;

“

I'm very bitter. I spent a night in the police station and it was like being in prison. The magistrate listened to what I had to say. They searched my bags but only found some vitamins that we all use and so they decided to let me go home.

”

[edit] The hearing and verdict

The prosecutor, Antoine Leroy, testified that medical supplies including syringes and equipment for intravenous drips were found in his hotel room, but were unused. According to AFP, the prosecutor said in the first searches, "there were no doping substances as such" found.^[9]

It was later revealed that Riccò had attempted to escape doping control officials after stage 4 of the Tour, but had been caught in traffic. As a result of this, officials decided that he was to be tested after every stage.^[10] It was also revealed that CERA's manufacturer Roche Pharmaceuticals had secretly worked closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency to develop a test for the drug, and this was how Riccò had been caught.^[11]

In the week following the race, Riccò admitted to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) that, independent of the team, he had been taking EPO in preparation for the 2008 Tour de France, and he accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his teammates and fans. He now faces a two year ban as well as potential criminal prosecution in France for possessing "poisonous substance."^[12] Riccò told the Italian newspaper La Republica that it was the banned doping Doctor Carlos Santuccione who supplied the new form of EPO.^[13]

Following Riccò's admission of guilt in the affair, his advisors had hoped for a 20-month sentence to be handed to the rider,^[8] but on October 2, 2008, he was handed a 2 year ban by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI),^[14] which Riccò found disappointing; "I'm very disappointed and bitter. I expected better understanding. But I made a mistake and it's fair that I pay."^[8] However, on March 17, 2009, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to 20 months because of his cooperation; he will next be eligible to compete on March 17, 2010.^[15] He has signed with Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce for the the 2010 and 2011 seasons. He will be permitted to race in Milan-Sanremo and the 2010 Giro d'Italia provided his team is invited.^[16]

[edit] Major results

[edit] See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rider biography
• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk
• Riccardo Riccò profile at the Cycling Website

Persondata
NAME	Riccò, Riccardo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH	1983-09-01
PLACE OF BIRTH	Formigine, Province of Modena, Italy
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH