The UCI has stated that the police search that led to the termination of Andrea Piccolo’s contract with EF Education-EasyPost was carried out following an investigation by the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Late on Friday evening, EF Education-EasyPost revealed that Piccolo had been stopped by Italian law enforcement authorities earlier that day “on suspicion of transporting Human Growth Hormone".
A report in La Gazzetta dello Sport indicated that Piccolo was stopped at an Italian airport. It was believed that he had recently been training in Colombia, and he was due to ride the Italian championships on Sunday.
In a statement on Saturday, the UCI said that Piccolo had been under investigation by the ITA, who had been collaborating on the case with the Italian anti-doping agency and Italian police.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has taken note of the statement made by UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost on 21 June 2024, announcing the team’s immediate termination of its contract with Italian rider Andrea Piccolo due to suspicion of transporting human growth hormone (hGH),” read the statement.
“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). The UCI welcomes this collaboration and will assess any further action that may be necessary in this respect.”
In their statement on Friday evening, EF said that they had suspended Piccolo without pay in March after he had used “a sleeping aid that was not approved by the team, though legal". The team stated they had reported the usage to the UCI at the time, and they also claimed that they had attempted to dismiss Piccolo at that point. “Due to legal reasons surrounding the UCI standard rider contract, we were unable to terminate his contract at the time,” continued the statement.
Yet despite the incident, Piccolo was still selected for the Giro d’Italia in May. It was Piccolo’s first race since March, when he withdrew from Paris-Nice ahead of stage 6. EF said at the time that he had abandoned Paris-Nice due to a shoulder injury.
EF manager Jonathan Vaughters told the Escape Collective website that Piccolo had alerted him of the search via text message, writing: “Jonathan I speak to you sincerely because I have already lost everything and I am aware of this… I have taken four medications from Colombia that I do not want to name, I want to take my responsibility for this… They found them and confiscated them at the airport.”
Under the WADA code, “the Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking in any Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method”, carries a minimum suspension of four years. Il Corriere della Sera has reported that Piccolo is also “almost certain” to face criminal charges as well as a sporting sanction.
Piccolo turned professional with Astana in 2021 but he left the team midway through the season for “personal health reasons” without ever racing for them. He competed in Italian national team colours later in the campaign before joining Gazprom at the start of 2022.
He was released from his Gazprom contract when the team was suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After a brief spell with Gianni Savio’s DroneHopper squad, Piccolo signed with EF in August 2022.
Piccolo made his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta a España, wearing the red jersey for a day. The 23-year-old began his 2024 season with a remarkable sequence of attacking displays at the Tour Colombia, having trained in the country during the off-season.
