Tour de France - Ricco and Piepoli sacked

Have your say in the Forum

Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli have been sacked by the Saunier Duval Scott squad.

The team said after the positive EPO test on Ricco that they would quit racing for a while and undertake an internal investigation.

It was after this internal review that team management sacked both riders.

The team issued this statement -

After Riccardo Riccò ´s arrest by French gendarmes, Saunier Duval Scott General Manager, Mauro Gianetti, said he was shocked and bitter about this sad incident, adding that he understood the Tour chief´s aggressive words and that he felt sorry for being cheated by riders he trusted. Gianetti did a personal investigation and consequently lost faith in Riccò but also in Piepoli because of a violation of the team's ethics code. As a result, Mauro Gianetti immediately fired these two riders

By accepting the due course of these procedures, the Team Manager and the team decidedly reject doping practices: "We have always paid close attention to what our riders are doing, and have always demanded an irreproachable attitude to their profession and to our code of ethics. All our riders gave us guarantees that they were clean. Riccò swore on his mother's head that he had never turned to illegal substances or means to improve his performance. Despite all the efforts made both internally and from outside the team we have failed to avoid this deplorable situation. We are the victims of the deceitful behaviour of those who put our sponsors' investments and the jobs of so many honest people at risk with the loathsome purpose of improving their cycling performance."