Sunday, February 3, 2013

Michele Scarponi: Banished, Vanished, Or??

I've noticed no sign of Michele Scarponi in the first four races of the season for Team Lampre-Merida. Those races were the Tour Down Under, Tour of San Luis, Tropicale Amissa Bongo and Challenge Mallorca.

A press release on February 1st, introducing the new leisure clothing sponsor of Clique, has Scarponi missing from the team photo (click to enlarge):
Where is Michele Scarponi?
A Lampre-Merida photo shoot published in cyclingnews.com on February 1st (here) did not include Scarponi.

The only mention of Scarponi this year by the team was in a press release on January 24th which was about SIDI being the shoe sponsor.  He is listed on the team website.


Michele Scarponi: Banished, Vanished, Or??


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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2013 at 11:26 PM

    He was banned by the IOC for 3 months in Dec for seeing Ferrari.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Larry and HeatherFebruary 4, 2013 at 4:31 AM

    Larry wonders whether Scarponi is just not smart enough to be part of Lampre anymore? How many times do you need to be told to stay away from guys like Ferrari? Not smart enough to keep your violation of the edict a secret...maybe not smart enough to be on the team of Saronni and Co? He's probably past his sell-by date anyway...and how many doping-related sanctions has he served now anyway?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Angelo senza la oFebruary 4, 2013 at 4:51 AM

    Michele Scarponi was banned by the Italian Olympic Committee for three months retroactive to October 1for seeing banned physician Michele Ferrari. It amounted to an off-season suspension.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Larry and HeatherFebruary 4, 2013 at 11:11 PM

    And don't forget his Puerto sanction - he's at least at "strike two" now and I thought the second time was supposed to require a lifetime ban, unless there were some special circumstances like helping the authorities track other dopers and break up doping rings? While he animates the racing and usually gives good interviews, his respect for the rules is sadly lacking. Probably just as well that he might be done?

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