After losing a couple of individual riders who returned positive drug tests in this year’s Tour de France, the race has been rocked with the withdrawal of the entire Saunier Duval-Scott team.
Until the start of today’s 12th stage Riccardo Ricco held both the white and the polka dot jerseys. Today it seems his two stage wins in this year’s event, stages 6 and 9, can be explained by his positive tests for the performance enhancing EPO. Ricco has now been taken into police custody.
It’s being reported that one of the climber’s urine samples collected by the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD showed traces of a third generation EPO called CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator).
Team mate Juan Jose Cobo Acebo was one place higher in the general classification than Ricco with the Saunier Duval-Scott team mates in 8th and 9th places respectively.
Leonardo Piepoli, another member of the team, crossed the line in first place on the grueling 10th stage, finishing at the top of Hautacam. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo was a close second on the day giving Saunier Duval-Scott a coveted one two finish on one of the most prestigious stages of any Tour de France.
The decision to withdraw the entire team became clear after the team failed to sign in for the start of the day’s racing.
At the time of their withdrawal the team was also wearing the yellow numbers of the best team in the race.
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