The winner of Varese’s “Gran Fondo” suspended by anti-doping court

In the last few hours, the Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, have announced the precautionary suspension of four athletes, all non-professional cyclists, following a series of drug tests carried out in the last few weeks. They also include Alessio Ricciardi, the winner of the “long” course of the Gran Fondo Tre Valli, the amateur competition organised right before the Tre Valli Varesine, on 25 September.

Ricciardi (on the right in the photo above), who races for the Dal Colle Team, reached the finishing line in Masnago with another cyclist (Igor Zanetti), and after the race, underwent routine drug tests. However, the tests were positive to recombinant Erythropoietin (EPO), sadly one of the best known substances, when it comes to doping in sport, particularly in cycling.

The cyclist, a native of La Spezia, among other things, is an expert in the Gran Fondo; according to a form completed by his team, Ricciardi has won no fewer than eight trials of this kind, in 2016 alone. In the past, he also competed in a professional team, albeit a secondary one, the OTC Lauretana, for two seasons, but an injury compromised his professional career.

The suspensions were ordered by the National Anti-doping Tribunal, as a precautionary measure for the moment, with the same organisation that accepted the requests made by the Anti-doping Prosecutor’s Office. In addition to Ricciardi, Emiliano Bolletta and Bruno Chiocca, who were positive to the CERA test, after the Gran Fondo Campagnolo in Rome, and Paolo Tedone, who was positive to 16 beta hydroxy stanozolol, after the CX in Salento di Gallipoli. HERE, the press release on the official CONI website.