Another one bites the dust

RobFowl

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/biondo-suspended-for-epo-positive

Ceramica-Flaminia
The UCI announced Monday that it has suspended Italian cyclist Maurizio Biondo after he tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition control on August 12, 2009.
The 28 year old rider from Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce won the time trial at the Tour of Denmark last month and placed second overall. He was hoping to be selected for the Italian team for the World Championships in Switzerland.
The provisional suspension was issued after the WADA laboratory in Lausanne declared an Adverse Analytical Finding for the blood booster NESP (Novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein/ darbepoetin alfa) in a test on Biondo's blood sample.
The provisional suspension will be in effect until the Italian Cycling Federation has determined whether Biondo has violated anti-doping rules.
The rider can request a counter-analysis.

Is this the Team Ricardo Ricco and Michael Rasmussen were supposed to be joining??

ednwireland

RobFowl wrote: »

Is this the Team Ricardo Ricco and Michael Rasmussen were supposed to be joining??

looks like it

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ricco-to-return-with-ceramica-flaminia

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ceramica-flaminia-says-no-uci-pressure-in-rasmussen-negotiations

not suprised they want to go there

Lumen

Bit of an odd one. Apparently NESP has a greater half-life than EPO, which would surely make it a worse choice for pre-competition doping - wouldn't you want it out of your system as fast as possible?

<flails around in cloud of ignorance>

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

Bit of an odd one. Apparently NESP has a greater half-life than EPO, which would surely make it a worse choice for pre-competition doping - wouldn't you want it out of your system as fast as possible?

<flails around in cloud of ignorance>

It's an odd one all right. The reason it's still around is that it's not always tested for............
Samples are only checked for EPO and derivatives if there is a suspicion about the rider or if the anti doping authorities specifically request it.
He probably reckoned the Tour of Denmark was a low profile event and they wouldn't be testing for it.
If he took it around then the peak effect would have been at the worlds