Emmanuele Sella positive for EPO
Not a good sign of things to come for Sella... (ALESSANDRO TROVATI/AFP/Getty Images)
Italian Emmanuele Sella has tested positive for Mircera, a potent form of the blood boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO).
The 27 year-old was caught in an out of competition test conducted by the UCI, and he tested positive for the same substance as Riccardo Riccò, Manuele Beltran and Moises Duenas did during the Tour de France.
"It was targeted control," said UCI President Pat McQuaid to Cyclingnews.com. "The control was done on July 23 and we sent the samples to Paris for testing."
McQuaid noted that Sella had been targeted based on his actions in and out of racing: "It was a highly targeted out-of-competition test. We are using a range of information to target riders."
Sella's reaction was incredulous: "I know absolutely nothing of this story, no-one has communicated anything to me. It is not true at all," he was quoted by Italian newsagency Ansa as saying.
The Italian riding for the small CSF Navigare team, won three mountain stages and the green king of the mountains jersey in this year's Tour of Italy.
For more on this story, visit Cyclingnews.com.
User Comments
There are 2 comments on this post
Showing 1 - 2 of 2 comments
-
salsarider79
Posted Wed 6 Aug, 2:29 pm BST Flag as inappropriate
Another possative drugs test? Maybe. I hope it turns out to be wrong. Still, it's good to see that people are now being caught out. Thankfully Ricco and co. didn't get away with it on the Tour De France.
I like the idea of the teams being in trouble as it was last year at the TDF. It means that the teams have to ensure their riders are riding clean and fair. I think that letting the team carry on when a rider is caught, kind of means the teams get away with it. They distance themselves from it. I don't like that idea. A team should be a team.
I only hope that people start to understand how much pressure proffesional cycling puts on racers. And how easy it can seem to try to cheat the system.
-
jerry3571
Posted Wed 6 Aug, 10:58 am BST Flag as inappropriate
To be honest, he was a bit good in the Giro. I've seen him over a number of years and his results this year were a bit of a shocker; a solid climber but he was nothing amazing. In this years Giro, I can't understand how he got in a breakaway with Cardenas and another rider and he got dropped in the first mountains. He then goes on to win 3 stages. Very bizarre even if he was doing naughty stuff.
About Ricco's team. They always seemed to have someone up the road. I thought at one point that they could get a Donkey on a bike a still win big stages. It's the shame with doping that the drugs seem to influence racing more than talent. Ho Hum!!
- 1
Bookmark with: