Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Mauro Santambrogio provisionally suspended after positive EPO test at Giro

Second Vini Fantini - Selle Italia rider tests positive; Di Luca already kicked off the team

Mauro Santambrogio has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for EPO during the Giro d'Italia. The Vini Fantini - Selle Italia rider is the second rider from the squad to test positive in recent weeks; Danilo Di Luca was thrown off the tour – and off the team – after an out-of-competition test from before the Giro came back positive when the race was in full swing.

Santambrogio rode consistently well throughout the Giro, winning stage 14 to Bardonecchia; eventual overall winner Vincenzo Nibali came home in second place that day and should Santambrogio's suspension move from being merely provisional the Scicilian will have another Giro stage win to add to his palmares. Santambrogio finished 9th overall. His positive test was from a urine sample taken on 4 May, the first day of the race. The full UCI press release is below.

Whereas the team were quick to distance themselves from the Di Luca result, calling him an 'idiot' and suggesting that his place on the team was secured mainly due to his friendship with the sponsor, the positive from Santambrogio will be much harder to spin. "The peloton knew Vini Fantini weren't trustworthy", David Millar has said of the test on twitter. "[it] was the talking point for the first week of the Giro (until misery & survival took over)". Team director Luca Scinto hasn't held back on twitter either. "You're right. Rip me to shreds. I trusted them. They are crazy and I'm a moron to believe them. They're sick", he said of the news.

---------------------------------------------

Mauro Santambrogio provisionally suspended

The UCI advised Italian rider Mauro Santambrogio that he is provisionally suspended. The decision to provisionally suspend this rider was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Rome indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in his urine sample collected at the Giro d’ Italia on 4 May 2013.

The provisional suspension of Mr. Santambrogio remains in force until a hearing panel convened by the Italian Cycling Federation determines whether he has committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.

Mr. Santambrogio has the right to request and attend the analysis of his B sample.

Under the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the UCI is unable to provide any additional information at this time.

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Add new comment

35 comments

Avatar
BenMWilliamson | 10 years ago
0 likes

I have read up on the EPO test details.

Both urine and blood tests are taken. The urine is the major indicator for the presence of EPO. This takes two and a half days to complete one sample.

Blood is then analyse and compared to the athletes 'biological passport' as further evidence.

As a result it is understandable why the centre in Rome was processing over 200 samples of both blood and urine - and how it can take around 4 weeks.

Avatar
tazo101 | 10 years ago
0 likes

But wasnt Nibbali head and shoulders above the rest, what a brilliant ride. We should be looking at the positive of that, instead of this........

Avatar
Leviathan | 10 years ago
0 likes

Who is this Vinny Fantini, some kind of mobster? He sounds well dodgy. What has Joe Pesci been up to lately? Miss you Joe.

Avatar
robert_obrien | 10 years ago
0 likes

The shocking thing is he must have thought he could get away with it. Which probably means there is a way. Which probably means...

Avatar
robert_obrien replied to Leviathan | 10 years ago
0 likes
bikeboy76 wrote:

Who is this Vinny Fantini, some kind of mobster? He sounds well dodgy. What has Joe Pesci been up to lately? Miss you Joe.

He's Haysi Fantayzee's godfather.

Pages

Latest Comments