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Florence, Italy, 2017 \u2013 Riccardo Ricco, the pro cyclist who is now \u2018enjoying\u2019 his time off after being banned from cycling for doping, says he would rather have doping than hidden motors in races.<\/p>\n
The Italian cyclist who nearly killed himself after a blood transfusion back in 2011, is now facing his second suspension from professional cycling that is active until 2024. Currently, he says he is selling gelato in Spain in order to make a living.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAre riders clean now? I am out of the peloton now, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Ricc\u00f2 told La Gazzetta dello Sport a day ago.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s bad to think whether or not people preferred this cycling to the one from a few years ago. Chemical help under the control of a doctor, even if it\u2019s called \u2018doping\u2019, is less dangerous than racing a hypothetical Tour on bread and water.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd can I add that I prefer chemical doping to motors? At least you have to have the courage to bet on yourself. With motors it\u2019s another sport. I would never be able to use them. I\u2019d feel like crap.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Ricco aka \u201cThe Cobra\u201d saw his career\u2019s peak in 2008 with two stage wins, wining the best young rider prize, and taking second place to Alberto Contador in the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n
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It was when he won two stages at the Tour de France with Team Saunier Duval, when he first failed a routine anti-doping test for CERA-EPO. Sadly, his big return with Team Vacansoleil didn\u2019t last and in 2011, he botched a blood transfusion at his home that put him in a serious life-threating situation.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYes,\u201d he claimed after being asked if he was afraid of doping. \u201cAfraid of being caught by the anti-doping tests. For this reason, I always did less than they said. I never worried about my health.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost managers and agents only think about making money. It makes me sick,\u201d he added. \u201cAlso, talking about doping, there are managers that know everything and give you the addresses where to go.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe cyclists and teams pay in cycling. I\u2019d extend the responsibility to the managers and, for the youth, the families.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Finally, he admitted to plan on returning back on the road even though he will be 40 when his ban will come to an end.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI will return to race. In 2024, when my ban ends, I\u2019ll be 40 and I\u2019ll still be competitive. If a team doesn\u2019t want me, I\u2019ll create my own.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Florence, Italy, 2017 \u2013 Riccardo Ricco, the pro cyclist who is now \u2018enjoying\u2019 his time off after being banned from cycling for doping, says he would rather have doping than hidden motors in races. The Italian cyclist who nearly killed himself after a blood transfusion back in 2011, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,72],"tags":[2050,2574,1340,453,2602,2597,2598,2601,2600,2599],"class_list":["post-3795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycling","category-news-stories","tag-bike-event-2018","tag-cycling-doping-cases-2017","tag-cycling-event-2017","tag-cycling-news","tag-doping-2017-cases","tag-riccardo-ricco","tag-riccardo-ricco-doping","tag-riccardo-ricco-doping-interview","tag-riccardo-ricco-interview","tag-riccardo-ricco-news"],"yoast_head":"\n