The use of banned substances in highly competitive Gran Fondo races has raised its ugly head once again this week, with not one but two Italian riders testing positive for EPO (recombinant erythropoietin).
As reported in Dutch language outlet Wielerflits, Felice Giangregorio, now 38, was fist caught using EPO back in 2019, during an out-of-competition check shortly after he had become Italian champion (in the men’s 30-34 category) with a victory at the Medio Fondo. Once the test was confirmed he lost his crown and received a four-year ban, which kept him out of the sport until late 2023.
After serving his suspension, Giangregorio bounced back onto the circuit and achieved some top 10 finishes in notable races, but last week he once-again tested positive for the performance-enhancing hormone. The test was conducted by NADO Italia, and the rider has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s National Anti-Doping Tribunal (TNA). If the B-steel confirms the result he will be looking at a much bigger ban this time around, likely an 8-year suspension, potentially even a lifetime exclusion. Either outcome would effectively end his career.
A synthetic hormone, erythropoietin – referred to as ‘Edgar Allan’ by its most infamous users and abusers in the US Postal team during the era of Lance Armstrong’s drug-assisted domination of professional cycling – works by artificially stimulating the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen to muscles. It can enhance an athlete’s performance by around 5% – easily enough to secure victory.
With a short ‘glow time’, when it can be detected, EPO abuse was rife in several teams during the 1990s and 2000s – including Festina and Cofidis, with 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis (Telekom) famously admitting to having used it, but still retaining his title (albeit with an asterisk). By contrast, when Lance Armstrong was finally found guilty of having used EPO in 2012, the American lost all seven of his Tour titles won between 1999 and 2005.
After winning several impressive Gran Fondo victories, former pro cyclist Nicola Genovese tested positive for EPO in May 2024, and in 2025, Giuseppina Michela Bergozza – UCI Gran Fondo World Champion in 2022 and 2024 Italian Champion – was banned for three years after a positive EPO test.
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