Italian Francesco Casagrande returns to race mountain bikes (Image credit: Sirotti)
Former professional Francesco Casagrande is winning again, but this time on a mountain bike with Team Galluzzi Cicli Taddei. The Italian from Tuscany has competed in 10 amateur mountain bike races with a good success rate: eight wins and two second places, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The 38-year-old had a successful road career that included wins in La Flèche Wallonne (2000), San Sebastián (1998, 1999) and three stages of the Tour de France.
Casagrande failed a doping test for testosterone in March 1998 at the Giro del Trentino. He served a nine-month suspension, the International Cycling Union (UCI) upped it from the original six months by the Italian cycling federation (FCI). He also lost his job in 2004 when Lampre sacked him after he failed a blood control for hematocrit prior to the Vuelta a España.
