“Yes, I brought four drugs from Colombia”

Cycling, not only Italian, shocked by the incredible event that has involved in the last few hours Andrea Piccolo, now a former EF Education–EasyPost cyclistthe team that has decided with immediate effect to terminate the contract with the 23-year-old from Magenta, “pinned” at the airport while returning from Colombia with a suspicious load, in which they were found prohibited and illegal substances: growth hormones. Of which he admitted possession and trafficking between Colombia and Italy, in a conversation he had with his general manager, Jonathan Vaughters: “I don’t even want to name them but I want to take responsibility for this gesture.”

The news remains among those not to be believed and throws the whole of cycling into the hands of the cannibals of doping: Piccolo’s reckless gesture has already gone around the world and it is not a question of simple suspicions as was believed – and hoped – by beginning, because the confirmation arrived from the person concerned, driven to the wall by the facts. Returning from Colombia, where he trains at altitude and where his girlfriend lives, he was stopped at the airport and some drugs containing growth hormones were confiscated.

Piccolo after the kidnapping and dismissal: “I lost everything”

If in the beginning we thought of a suspension by his team, the American EF, waiting for further investigations into the incident, every doubt was raised by Andrea Piccolo himself who wrote a private message to his director, Jonathan Vaughterswho then made it public as the reason for the immediate dismissal: “Jonathan I speak to you sincerely” Piccolo wrote immediately after the events. “Because I have already lost everything and I am aware of it: I brought four drugs from Colombia that I don’t want to name, I want to take responsibility for this. They found them and confiscated them at the airport. I will definitely try to resolve this problem because I have not tested positive for any substance.”

The search and seizure: collective investigation by investigative forces

The arrest of Andrea Piccolo at the airport upon returning from Colombia was certainly not accidental because the young cyclist had ended up in the net of a wide-ranging investigation which concerned alleged trafficking in prohibited substances. The search against the runner was in fact the result of an investigation conducted byInternational Testing Agency (ITA) thanks to its close collaboration with theItalian National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO Italy) and to the Italian law enforcement agencies (NAS Carabinieri).

What is human growth hormone and why is it doping

Not only in cycling but in any other sporting activity, human growth hormone is strictly prohibited and banned, included in the list of substances indicated as doping. It is a scientifically named drug “hGH”, a prohibited substance belonging to the class of S2 peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics, included in the list of prohibited products managed by WADA and adopted by the UCI. In sports it is used for its anabolic and stimulating activity in increasing muscle mass. hGH is also implicated in the reduction of fat mass due to its lipolysis effects

What Andrea Piccolo risks now on a disciplinary level

Andrea Piccolo was immediately fired from his team and will remain without receiving any salary without new contracts awaiting trial. It was also suspended as a precautionary measure by the National Anti-Doping Tribunal For “possession of a prohibited substance or method” and for “use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or method“. The UCI also communicated that it accepted “I welcome this collaboration” by the runner who admitted his responsibilities but will evaluate any further actions that may be necessary in this sense. And also on the criminal front, Piccolo risks a conviction for possession and trafficking of illegal substances.