MILAN – Riccardo Ricco’s team Vacansoleil threatened to sack the Italian cyclist on Wednesday if allegations he performed his own blood transfusion are correct.
“The team does not have enough knowledge of the relevant facts to make a considered judgement on this matter,” a statement read.
“The team has a zero-tolerance policy concerning drug use. All riders and staff who violate the internal and UCI doping rules are fired on the spot. The team has now started an investigation of the facts.” Ricco, who returned from a 20-month ban last March after being caught doping while in second place at the 2008 Tour de France, is seriously ill in hospital in the Italian city of Modena having been admitted on Monday.
A hospital statement said his condition was improving but that the prognosis was still unclear. A source with knowledge of the situation said the rider had risked his life by trying to perform the blood transfusion on himself and the Italian anti-doping body started disciplinary action against him on Tuesday. Self transfusions are banned in Italian sport. The 27-year-old had his house raided in September as part of a wide-ranging Italian police probe into doping and unidentified tablets were seized.
However, he was not put under investigation and charges have not been brought. His girlfriend was cleared of doping charges last year but her brother was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic illegal doping substances. Cycling and especially Italian cycling have been rocked by a succession of doping scandals which have left the sport’s credibility hanging by a thread.
CONTADOR DOPING ‘NOT SIGNIFICANT’: Spain’s cycling federation justified its decision to seek a one-year ban for Alberto Contador, rather than the usual two years, by saying his responsibility appeared to be minimal, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday.
“The negligence of the cyclist was not significant … as the simple presence of the substance in his body does not imply a violation of fair play,” the federation, RFEC, said in a report, according to the sports daily Marca.
The paper said the federation used this argument to seek a one-year suspension, rather than a two-year ban that would normally be imposed for a doping violation.
The presence of the banned substance clenbuterol was detected over four consecutive days during last year’s Tour de France, the RFEC said in its report, although only one of those tests, on July 21, was retained.
