Andrea Piccolo Fired on Suspicion of Transporting Human Growth Hormone

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EF Education-EasyPost has terminated the contract of Andrea Piccolo after he was stopped by the authorities today on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone, a banned substance.

It is the second incident related to banned or unapproved substances in just a handful of months for the 23-year-old Italian rider who was in his third WorldTour season, all with EF.

The first incident happened in March when he used a legal sleeping aid that was not approved by EF Pro Cycling, the team said in a statement. The team says it immediately reported the usage to the UCI and suspended Piccolo without pay.

The team moved to terminate his contract in March but was unable to “due to legal reasons surrounding the UCI standard rider contract.”

Piccolo returned to competition and raced the Giro d’Italia last month. Today, June 21, Piccolo was stopped by Italian authorities upon entering the country on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone, a banned substance under under World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) rules.

“Our organization will cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities,” EF Pro Cycling said.

The UCI subsequently issued its own statement about the situation.

It said that it ‘has taken note’ of the team statement and gave additional details about Friday’s development.

“The search conducted on the rider is the result of an investigation led by the International Testing Agency (ITA) and its close collaboration with the National Anti-Doping Organisation of Italy (NADO Italia) and Italian law enforcement authorities (NAS Carabinieri),” it wrote.

“The UCI welcomes this collaboration and will assess any further action that may be necessary in this respect.”

It added it would not comment further on the matter.

Using growth hormones can carry a hefty punishment. Mexican rider Luis Villalobos was banned for four years in early 2023 after testing positive for the substance. He was also signed to the EF Pro Cycling squad at the time, though the positive test dated to his time on the Aevolo team.

Piccolo was in his third WorldTour season. He raced the Giro this year, winning the combatively award on stage 2. He crashed out on stage 19. He wore the leader’s jersey for a stage at the Vuelta last year and has put together a handful of podium finishes in more minor races.