Riccardo Riccò
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Riccardo Riccò |
| Nickname | The Cobra |
| Born |
1 September 1983 Formigine, Italy |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Meridiana-Kamen |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climbing Specialist |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2006–2008 | Saunier Duval–Prodir |
| 2010 | Ceramica Flaminia |
| 2010–2011 | Vacansoleil |
| 2011-2012 | Meridiana-Kamen |
| Major wins | |
| Giro d'Italia, 3 stages Giro d'Italia, Young Rider jersey (2008) Tirreno–Adriatico, Points jersey and 2 stages (2007) |
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Riccardo Riccò (born 1 September 1983 in Formigine) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Italy. He remains under contract to UCI Continental team Meridiana-Kamen, but is suspended from all competition until 2024. He was previously ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations and suspended. Riccò returned to competition in late 2010, but in February 2011 he was fired by his team, Vacansoleil–DCM, after he became seriously ill allegedly through a self-administered autologous blood transfusion.
On 19 April 2012 it was announced that he had been suspended for 12 years effectively ending his career.
He joined UCI ProTeam Saunier Duval–Prodir in 2006 after two successful seasons as an amateur rider, during which he won the Settimana Bergamasca. Prior to joining the team he tried to become a professional with Ceramica Panaria–Navigare in 2005 but wasn't allowed because several blood tests revealed his levels exceeded those acceptable. Saunier Duval's sportif director, Mauro Gianetti, suggested he spend a week in the UCI laboratory in Lausanne to prove that his blood values were natural. Further exhaustive tests by the UCI confirmed that Riccò´s hematocrit level was naturally over 50%. This has since been questioned however when, on 17 July 2008, it was revealed that Riccò had a non negative test for EPO, the hematocrit boosting drug, following the Tour de France stage 4 time trial at Cholet. It has since been suggested by fellow pro-rider Jérôme Pineau that Riccò openly doped even as a junior rider.
Riccò's breakthrough came during the 2007 Tirreno–Adriatico, when he won two consecutive stages and the Points Classification. He also won a stage and finished second in Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali. He then finished ninth in Amstel Gold Race and sixth in La Flèche Wallonne in his first ever appearance in the Ardennes Classics. He rode the Giro d'Italia as a domestique of team leader Gilberto Simoni and in the process he took the 15th stage at Tre Cime di Lavaredo ahead of his teammate Leonardo Piepoli. He would finish sixth overall, seven minutes behind eventual winner Danilo Di Luca. In the season finale Giro di Lombardia, he finished second after losing a two-man sprint with Damiano Cunego.
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