From Prato to New York to Cheat at GFNY

Gabriele Guarini (left) of Prato, Italy and David Anthony (right) of New York both tested positive for EPO at Gran Fondo New York according to the organizers. That age groupers (Guarini is in the 50-54 age group) take EPO for a gran fondo is stunningly stupid. It isn't the first time and won't be the last unfortunately.

An excerpt from the press release:
"Two cyclists tested positive for EPO at Gran Fondo New York on May 20, 2012. David Anthony of New York City admitted today to having used the drug to enhance his performance at bike races. Gabriele Guarini from Prato, Italy accepted the results of his A sample.

"Of course we were shocked to hear the news on the positive tests, in particular given the use of EPO. EPO is a blood boosting drug that has to be injected and is not a simple over the counter product," says Gran Fondo New York CEO Ulrich Fluhme. "Doping control helps clean riders have fair competition. We believe that we came closer to achieving that by introducing out-of-competition (OOC) and in-competiton (IC) testing. All our OOC tests came back negative as did the vast majority of IC tests. Plus, the announcement of testing before the event kept away notorious cheaters."

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was onsite in Weehawken, NJ, the finish site of Gran Fondo New York, on May 20, 2012 and conducted the testing. Gran Fondo New York appointed USADA to perform urine testing for both OOC and IC testing on its behalf. All doping control tests were conducted in accordance with the USA Anti-Doping Rules, which are in accord with World Anti-Doping Code and the International Standard for Testing."

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

L'Eroica and Gran Fondo New York Registrations

L'Eroica, October 7, 2012:
Registration opens in a few hours at 0001 March 1st . With field limits in place register as soon as possible at www.eroica-ciclismo.it. The field limit is 3,000 of which 2,200 slots are for Italians and 800 slots for foreigners (an increase of 300 for foreigners from last year). The field limit applies to anyone between 15 and 60. If you are over 60 years of age the field limit does not apply, whether you are Italian or not, but you must still register.




Gran Fondo New York, May 20, 2012:
Register today as on March 1st the entry fee increases to $240 for the Gran Fondo and $195 for the Medio Fondo. Get on it now if you are not registered yet: granfondony.eventbrite.com.

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.