EF Education-EasyPost have announced that the team has terminated Andrea Piccolo's contract effective immediately after the rider was stopped by Italian authorities while entering the country on Friday "on suspicion of transporting Human Growth Hormone".
The 23-year-old, who joined the US team from Androni Giocattoli in 2022, had been subject to an internal suspension at EF back in March after he was found to have been "taking a sleeping aid that was not approved by the team, though legal."
Piccolo's contract has now been terminated following the incident with Italian authorities on Friday, June 21, with the team stating that they had been unable to terminate the contract back in March.
EF stated that the team will "cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities."
'Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking in any Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method by an Athlete or Other Person' constitutes an anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.7 of the WADA Code. If found guilty, athletes or 'other persons' committing the violation face a WADA-mandated suspension from between a minimum of four years up to a lifetime suspension, depending on the seriousness of the violation.
"EF Pro Cycling has terminated Andrea Piccolo's contract, effective immediately," EF stated in a post to Twitter on Friday.
"Piccolo was suspended internally without pay in March after taking a sleeping aid that was not approved by the team, though legal. The team reported the usage to the UCI immediately, but due to legal reasons surrounding the UCI standard rider contract, we were unable to terminate his contract at the time. After serving his suspension, he returned to competition at the Giro d'Italia.
"On June 21, Piccolo was stopped by Italian authorities upon entering the country on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone. Our organization will cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities."
This season, Piccolo has raced 34 days for EF, including outings at the Tour Colombia and Paris-Nice. Last month he completed 18 stages of the Giro d'Italia, finishing fourth on stage 6, before abandoning following a hard crash on stage 19.
According to his Instagram, Piccolo has recently been training in Colombia but on Friday rode near Lake Maggiore in Lombardy, close to Italy's northern border with Switzerland. He was expected to travel Tuscany to ride the Italian national championship but now is without a team and facing huge questions.
Piccolo has not reacted to the EF Education announcement.
