Jonathan Vaughters has apologised to the riders and staff of the EF Education-EasyPost team, taking responsibility for hiring Andrea Piccolo, who was accused of transporting human growth hormone (hGH) as he returned to Italy from Colombia.
EF Education-EasyPost immediately sacked Piccolo when the accusations were confirmed and made their decision public. The news was a shock to the cycling world after years of very few doping scandals, and it sent shockwaves through the American-registered WorldTour team that prides themselves on their stand against doping.
The EF Education-EasyPost team sponsors appear to have maintained their support for the team but Vaughters wanted to take responsibility for hiring Piccolo in 2022 and giving him a second chance this spring when he was caught using the non-authorised sleeping medication clonazepam.
"I am the person who gave him the chance, who brought him into the team, and I apologise to you for that because you are now going to get asked questions about him and it's something you've got to deal with," David Walsh of the Times reported Vaughters as saying to his riders on the eve of the Tour de France Grand Depart.
Vaughters confirmed all the details and comments of the Times article to Cyclingnews on Sunday in Bologna.
Vaughters told his riders and staff to share their thoughts on Piccolo and the impact of his actions on the team. There was anger rather than sympathy for Piccolo after he decided to try to bring growth hormones from Colombia into Italy with no regard for the team's credibility and integrity.
"When Piccolo came to the team, I befriended him because he was Italian like me and tried to help him. Now I see him as a dickhead," the Times reported Alberto Bettiol as saying of his fellow Italian.
Head Sports Director Charly Wegelius highlighted the wider damage Piccolo's action caused.
"What makes me angry is that he could do this. I spend 150 days a year away from my family, working with you guys because you are doing things in the right way. If you weren't, I wouldn't be here," Wegelius apparently said to his riders.
"And what really hacks me off is that people will see what Piccolo has done and make accusations against Jonathan. I know what Jonathan and this team stand for, and this is why this hurts."
Vaughters doped during his career in the 90s but has since taken a prominent role in cleaning up the sport and ensuring his riders do not need or want to dope. He played a strategic role in the downfall of Lance Armstrong but worked hard to run a clean team. He has often employed riders and staff who have confessed to doping and promised to help fight the problem.
"The riders of today don't deserve the burden of our generation," Vaughters said.
"The thing that kills me the most is not the hatred I will receive, 'Ah, he's just a hypocrite when he says cycling's cleaned up.' I am almost inoculated to that. What makes me sad is that the kids of today don't deserve any of that. They are good kids who for the most part are racing clean and the sadness of this case is that it's going to reignite the doubt, the suspicion, the cynicism."
EF Education-EasyPost are targeting stage victories at the 2024 Tour de France with Bettiol, Richard Carapaz, Neilson Powless and Ben Healy. Carapaz was able to join Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaad and Remco Evenepoel after the steep San Luca climb on stage 2 and is on equal time as Pogacar.
Piccolo has gone to ground as he awaits the Italian police and Italian anti-doping authorities to investigate his case. He risks criminal charges for importing human growth hormone and a possible four-year ban from the sport.
He seemed aware of the damage he had created in a message sent to Vaughters.
"Jonathan, I speak to you sincerely because I have already lost everything and I am aware of this … I brought four medications from Colombia that I do not want to name, I want to take my responsibility for this. They found them and detained me. They confiscated them at the airport.
"They tested me and nothing came of that but it turns out that they found a medication that cannot be brought in. I apologise for this. Forgive me."
Piccolo won a bronze medal in the junior time trial world championships in 2018 and then the prestigious Giro della Lunigiana stage race. He turned professional with Astana at age 19 but never raced with them and returned to the Italian under-23 ranks after a difficult few months. He joined Gazprom but then the team folded, but he kept his professional career alive with a spell at Gianni Savio's Drone Hopper team.
EF Education-EasyPost signed Piccolo in August 2022, striking a deal with Piccolo's agent Giuseppe Acquadro, who represents numerous other riders, including Egan Bernal and Carapaz.
"Andrea had a VO2 Max of 97. I was blown away by it. I had never seen anything like that. VO2 Max doesn't mean everything in cycling but it does give an indication of what's there," Vaughters said to the Times.
Piccolo appeared to commute between Colombia and Italy between racing blocks this season. Little did he know that after EF Education-EasyPost reported his sleeping medication case to the UCI, the ITA anti-doping agency and anti-doping police in Italy began to track his movements.
On Piccolo's return from Colombia before the Italian national championships in mid-June, Italian customs police were waiting for Piccolo at Milan airport. His career ended in a split second as the hGH was discovered.
