EF fires Andrea Piccolo after rider allegedly caught with HGH

Piccolo has yet to be publicly accused of an anti-doping offense and the UCI has yet to comment, with the incident becoming public on Friday evening in Europe. An email request for comment to Piccolo’s agent was not immediately returned. Reached by SMS, EF CEO Jonathan Vaughters confirmed the news to Escape collective.

In a text message to Vaughters, written primarily in Spanish with a few words in Italian, Piccolo expressed remorse while admitting that he had been searched. “Jonathan speaks to you of sincerity because you are lost everyone and I am consapevole of this… Lve de la Colombia 4 medicas que me uno no quiero hacer nombra quiero tomarme my responsibility in this…”, wrote Piccolo. “las encontraron y me la sequestraron en aeropuerto…” (Translated: Jonathan I am speaking to you sincerely because I have already lost everything and I am aware of it… I took four medications from Colombia that I do not want to name, I want to take responsibility… They found them and confiscated them at the airport).

Piccolo later apologized, saying he knew he would be kicked off the team and asking for forgiveness, while adding that he would “surely try to resolve this as I haven’t tested positive for any substances” .

The girls said Escape via text message that after the sleeping pill incident, he gave in and offered Piccolo a second chance, including a start in the Giro, after what he thought was a sincere apology. But the second incident is much more serious. According to the WADA code, human growth hormone is classified as an anabolic agent and its use is prohibited at any time, including out of competition. Being found in possession of a prohibited substance is equivalent to a positive test. It is unknown what three other drugs Piccolo was carrying.

Human growth hormone is a natural substance that is also produced in recombinant (synthetic) form as a therapeutic drug. In a doping context, it can help with recovery and building or maintaining lean muscle mass, and is often used as part of a broader doping regimen. The drug was among those discovered during the 2023 doping investigation into team W52-FC Porto, which saw manager Nuno Ribeiro suspended for 25 years. It was also the drug in question in the recent Miguel Angel Lopez affair, centered on the runner’s actions in 2022.

The news is a shocking turn of events for EF. The team was founded more than 15 years ago following serious doping issues in professional cycling and has a long history of public support for clean sport. Then racing at the Pro Continental level under the name Slipstream, in 2007 the team was one of the first to independently pioneer biomarker testing, a technique that became the basis of Slipstream’s biological passport program. the athlete of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The team has also since 2007 been a member of the Movement for Credible Cycling, an independent association of WorldTeams and ProTeams which aims to maintain the sport at a higher level of ethical behavior.

The team has had two doping-related incidents in its past. In 2011, the team fired then-manager Matt White after he referred a rider to an outside doctor, in violation of the team’s internal rules. That doctor, Luis Garcia del Moral, was later banned for life as part of the United States Postal Service’s investigation, although the suspension was ultimately reduced to five years. And in 2015, Tom Danielson tested positive for testosterone after taking a contaminated supplement and was suspended for four years. He retired at the end of this season.

It remains to be seen whether Piccolo will be criminally charged, but there will almost certainly be an anti-doping case. He faces a ban of at least four years, depending on the other substances found in possession.

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