Andrea Piccolo sacked by EF
Up and coming Italian rider, Andrea Piccolo, has been fired by EF Education-Easypost having been caught in possession of Human Growth Hormone.
Apparently he'd been suspended previously by the team for using a 'sleeping aid' that wasn't approved by the team.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/22/cycling-andrea-piccolo-fired-ef-pro-team-italy
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Good old JV; suspend your rider, try to terminate his contract but find you can't, take him to the Giro anyway 😂
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As has been mentioned elsewhere, the team statement is a bit of a mess.
What's the relevance of Piccolo taking an apparently legal sleeping aid that wasn't explicitly forbidden by his contract, at least not to the extent that it would be a legal firing offence? Why are they telling us that now? And if they were so keen to get rid, why send him to the Giro, the biggest race at the time? Lastly, can you be fired on suspicion of something? Doesn't your employer normally have to show some evidence? A charge or arrest at least?
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One mad attempt to get off the front too many
"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
UCI statement here. Apparently he was being investigated by the ITA
https://www.uci.org/pressrelease/uci-statement-concerning-andrea-piccolo/5yiJFZeWKiNKIrA286Tz9f
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Sounds like he has pissed off the management and they were just waiting on a reason to get rid of him.
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David Walsh has an article with some background from the EF team. I'm not sure it's the whole truth re his pre-EF days though, so the new girlfriend angle is a touch on the speculative side
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