Italian Continental rider Fabio Mazzucco faces a four-year suspension from racing after testing positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test.
The 23-year-old returned an adverse analytical finding for the red blood cell booster in a test conducted on January 18, over a month before Mazzucco made his season debut at the GP Civitanova Marche in early March.
EPO positive cases are now rare due to the introduction of a test for the drug. However Continental teams are not required to be part of the UCI's Athlete Biological Passport programme that monitors blood values over time and can spot anomalies and EPO use.
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Mazzucco, who signed for Mg.K Vis-Colors for Peace this season, went on to compete at the Per Sempre Alfredo and GP Industria e Artigianato one-day races (both DNFs) as well as the Settimana Coppi e Bartali stage race (108th overall) while awaiting the results of his B-sample.
He's currently provisionally suspended from competition according to a document updated by the UCI last week and is now set for a four-year competition ban under the WADA Code.
Mazzucco, who hails from Este near Padova in north-east Italy, turned pro in 2020 with Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, racing for three years with the ProTeam before making the step down to Continental level this year.
Riding for Mg.K Vis, he was a breakaway stage winner at the 2019 U23 Giro d'Italia on the white gravel roads of Tuscany and went on to make his debut at the Italian Grand Tour the following year, riding in the breakaway on stage 11.
Mazzucco endured a challenging 2022 season, only completing 24 race days for Bardiani after he was forced to take five months off racing through the summer due to physical problems.
Last November he moved back to Tuscan squad Mg.K Vis but is now facing a much longer layoff from the sport.
