A dozen people have been arrested and more than 100 put under formal investigation in connection with a doping ring in Italy involving both amateurs and professionals in sports such as swimming and cycling. Those investigated include a one-time wearer of the Giro d’Italia’s maglia rosa, six members of an amateur cycling team, and the mother of a teenage swimmer who ordered doping products for her 15-year-old daughter over the internet.
The six cyclists investigated belong to the Miccolo di Pianezza amateur team, based in the outskirts of Turin, and also under investigation is ex-professional Sergio Santimaria, winner of two Giro d’Italia stages, the second of which, on Stage 1 of the 1986 edition, put him into the maglia rosa.
The inquiry, still ongoing and codenamed ‘Little Dog,’ is focused on the province of Turin and is led by Raffaele Guariniello, the Italian magistrate who a decade ago investigated allegations of doping centred on the Juventus football team, reports Italian sports daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Those under investigation are not confined to the province of Turin, but elsewhere in Northern Italy and beyond. Four of those arrested are being held in prison, while the other eight are under house arrest.
Banned substances seized as part of the inquiry have been traced back to countries including Greece, Serbia, China and Egypt in the case of anabolic agents, while EPO and nandrolone discovered by investigators is said to have been stolen from the Mauriziano hospital in Turin itself.
Some 6,000 packets of drugs have been seized, with a reported value of €300,000, and the Gazzetta reports that in one raid that took place yesterday, the suspect attempted, unsuccessfully, to get rid of the evidence by throwing a bag of EPO from the balcony of their apartment.
Also being investigated under the inquiry are Andrea Diminutto, the former goalkeeper of football club AC Legnano, and 15-time national swimming champion Andrea Oriana. The latter, who competed at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, announced earlier this year that he planned to return to competition seven years after he had retired.
Meanwhile, investigators discovered that a 45-year-old mother from Lombardy had aparently bought anabolic agents an EPO online for her daughter, aged 15, a competitive swimmer.
Intercepted telephone calls made by the mother revealed her to be a woman “obsessed” with her child’s competitive performance, with phrases recorded such as “my daughter can’t finish second and must win.”
Guariniello described this particular episode as “a disturbing case.” The Gazzetta noted that the daughter is not herself under investigation, but is instead being treated as a victim of the affair.
Glad I never lent him my bike.
Comment to win you say, hmm I wonder what to write?
Seems the only reason to be bothered by this is if you're branding-conscious and don't want to be seen on Tiagra, which is by all accounts...
50kmh is 25% faster than 40kmh, obviously a ludcrous and typo-caused improvement.
It feels to me like the door is being left open for some new entrant in the bike component market. A manufacturer of 10 speed mechanical shifting...
I once knew some weight lifters and they said this was pretty common. Like you I left mine when I could have fixed it earlier. Finally did...
Know what you mean. Out round the paths this evening, people moved thickly, cats didn't trot aside and even the birds seemed lazy.
Don't hold your breath waiting for the police to take any interest or action in that part of the world. They don't give two sh*ts about cyclists. ...
I've already made his acquaintance!
Not really a cycle lane though, looks more like the area of the road you shouldn't cycle in, to be safe please cycle further out than this green patch