UCI to suspend Androni-Giocattoli after second rider tests positive

The UCI has announced that Italian UCI Professional Continental team Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec will be suspended from racing for between 15 and 45 days after a second rider tested positive for a banned substance.

World cycling’s governing body announced today that the team’s 30-year-old rider Fabio Taborre had tested positive for FG-4592 in a sample collected during an out-of-competition test on 16 June 2015.

The substance, originally developed for use in patients with chronic kidney disease boosts the body’s ability to produce EPO.

Taborre has the right to request an analysis of his B sample and in the meantime has been provisionally suspended.

The news comes just four weeks after another rider from the team run by Gianni Savio, the former Team Sky sprinter Davide Appollonio, tested positive for EPO following an out-of-competition test on 14 June 2015.

Under rules that came into force at the start of this year, a second positive test for riders on the same team inside a 12 month period result in a suspension ranging from 15 to 45 days for the team as a whole.

The UCI said it would “refer the matter to the Disciplinary Commission which will render a decision in the upcoming days.”