Tour de France - Ricco doubts validity of drugs test

Eurosport - Sun, 20 Jul 11:20:00 2008

Riccardo Ricco has questioned the validity of the test that detected the blood-boosting drug EPO in his system during the Tour de France.

CYCLING 2008 Riccardo Ricco - 0

Ricco, runner-up in the Giro d'Italia and winner of two stages on the Tour, tested positive after the fourth stage of the race. He has denied any wrongdoing.

"It's necessary to wait for the counter-analysis, then see if the method they used to do the test is valid," the 24-year-old told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I don't think it's 100 percent certain."

His Saunier Duval team pulled out of the Tour following the announcement by the French Anti-Doping Agency and sacked Ricco along with fellow Italian Leonardo Piepoli.

Ricco has returned to Italy after being interviewed by an investigating magistrate on Friday and spending Thursday night behind bars.

Under recent French legislation, a rider is liable under criminal law for using or possessing banned substances.

"I wouldn't wish an experience like that even on a dog," he said. "Everything went through my head during the night in prison. After touching the sky with a finger I found myself on the ground in an instant."

Ricco is the third rider to test positive for EPO on the 2008 Tour after Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 16 of 16

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  1. Twice the pride -- Double the fall!!!

    From jsbigfan, on Wed 30 Jul 10:26PM

  2. Lets just ban all the drug cheats for life from now on ---- simple the more we catch the less there will be racing. I just can't understand why the professional bodies in-charge of pro racing let drug cheats back in after a ban. If they are cheats we should never have to put up with them again.
    Drug cheats destroy everything that is good about our sport of cycle racing.
    Ban them for life!!!!!!!!!! More importantly ban them also from becoming managers of teams or TV commentators. Ban them from everything cycling, If Ricco is a cheat then he should go to jail for fraud.

    From srs.events@ymail.com, on Tue 22 Jul 6:32PM

  3. Kick out all cheats whoever they are and teams not doing sufficient tests on their own riders should also suffer by being banned - that would certainly get attention of the sponsors and the managers.

    From bourne185, on Tue 22 Jul 4:42PM

  4. There's some stupid comments on here by jimmyskyscraper and few others. Lealize dope cause there is alot of money in it? you must have been smacked offa your tits when you wrote that, does that also mean their going to legalize human trafficing and cocaine, even more money there. Anyone who wants to watch people on dope for a great show might as well just watch Bodybuilding contests. I'm glad the cheats are caught and they should be given a life ban, make them think twice about doing it then.

    From louisejuckes, on Mon 21 Jul 4:49PM

  5. Sport is a show in essence for us the public, and i wanna see a great spectacle not some guys that climb up mountains slower then me...... Like the last Wimbledon.....when 2 mega DOPED guys played.....but i was a great show.....so anti dope guys should shut up!!

    From klingermarius83, on Mon 21 Jul 11:13AM

  6. Good man stan. You're well read I see!! Yes EPO is naturally occuring but I would think the drug testers are aware of this fact!!! Its the synthetic version and its derivatives they're testing. Similar to the stuff cancer patients with low blood counts in hospital get. By the way the tooth fairy isn't real!!

    From fordejames, on Mon 21 Jul 10:37AM

  7. stop kidding boys... you will find EPO in EVERY blood sample as it's natural hormone. journalists - do not you think it's the right time to go back to school ?

    From Stan, on Mon 21 Jul 9:43AM

  8. we want the riders to fight on the big mountains not to crawl even if that means they have to dope if it becomes legal they will put a hell of a show like Contador and Rasmussen last year...Ricco would have done the same this year at alp d'huez ...now we have to wait for the next tour when maybe Contador and his team will be invited

    From cosminbucur_no, on Mon 21 Jul 8:25AM

  9. Doping rulz...too shame that the new methods of detecting it are working :(. Ppl like Pantani, Rijs, Ullrich and Armstrong where never caught with EPO in their blood but the future revealed that they used (some confess like Rijs some got cauth when buying like Ullrich and in Armstrong case :)) every blood probe taken in 1999 and analyzed in 2006 with the new metod was full of epo...but the lab cant prove that the samples weren't contaminated) so keep on doping ppl to become great champions. only LOSER'S don't use EPO!!!!

    From klingermarius83, on Sun 20 Jul 11:12PM

  10. arrogant little cheating @#$%

    From Leonard N, on Sun 20 Jul 9:47PM

  11. I like his approach.....

    From Umair, on Sun 20 Jul 7:16PM

  12. What happens if a b test sample comes back as negative, any rider and his team have been kicked off the tour by the time b tests are returned.

    From Mark J, on Sun 20 Jul 7:00PM

  13. In more other words:
    "Let's see how this test works, then my chemist can work around it next time."

    From princeoforange98, on Sun 20 Jul 1:42PM

  14. people must understand that there r 2 groups in cycling those who get caught and those who get away with it the same with athletics and most of the sports in which techniuqe isn't that important but that is today's world and u wait and in few years they will legalize dope coz lotta money in that peace ya all

    From jimmyskyscraper, on Sun 20 Jul 12:20PM

  15. I love the words Ricco uses 'I don't think it's 100% certain', not 'I didn't take anything', but 'let's see if the method they used to do the test is valid'.

    From Dean B, on Sun 20 Jul 12:05PM

  16. In other words:

    "But my doctor told me that it wouldn't be detected in the tests. The tests must have cheated, it's not fair."

    From James G, on Sun 20 Jul 11:54AM
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