Leonardo Piepoli
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Leonardo Piepoli (born 29 September 1971) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist. He most recently rode for Saunier Duval–Scott on the UCI ProTour, but had his contract suspended in July 2008 during the Tour de France amid allegations of the use of the blood boosting drug EPO in the team. He was later suspended for two years, which effectively ended his career.
Career
He is a record four-time winner (1995, 1999, 2003, 2004) of the Subida a Urkiola. Piepoli is a specialist climber, and this was shown in the 2006 Giro d'Italia, where he was one of the strongest riders in the mountains and won two stages. In the 2007 Giro d'Italia, Piepoli won the mountains classification. He has won stages in the Giro and the Vuelta a España. He also made himself famous by 'gifting' two stage victories to his team-mates Gilberto Simoni and Riccardo Riccò. During the Vuelta, Piepoli lead the mountains classification, but was forced to leave the race, citing 'family problems'
During the 2008 Giro d'Italia Piepoli crashed two times, leaving the race with three broken ribs and with his left hand fractured in two places.
In the 2008 Tour de France, Piepoli won the 10th stage, a mountain stage that climbed the legendary Hautacam, and also helped his team-mate Riccardo Riccò win two stages. Before the twelfth stage, Piepoli and the rest of his team stepped out of the race, after Riccò had tested positive for doping.
Doping allegations
Piepoli was fired from Saunier Duval on 18 July 2008, for what his team called "violation of the team's ethical code." The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Piepoli had confessed to EPO usage, using the same third generation form (CERA) for which his teammate Riccardo Riccò tested positive, but he denied this at the Italian National Olympic Committee's investigation into Riccò's case. On 6 October 2008, it was announced that two of Piepoli's samples from the Tour de France had also tested positive for CERA EPO. In a 7 January 2009 interview with the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Piepoli acknowledged that he had used CERA in "a moment of weakness". In January 2009, he was suspended from the sport for two years.
Major results
1993
1994
1st Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia
1995
1st Subida a Urkiola
2nd Giro del Lazio
6th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
7th Overall Tour de Suisse 1st Mountains classification
7th Coppa Agostoni
1996
1st Stage 4 Giro del Trentino
8th Tour de Berne
1997
3rd Overall Giro del Trentino
5th Giro di Toscana
1998
2nd Overall Vuelta a Burgos 1st Stage 4
4th Overall Tour de Suisse
4th Overall Vuelta a Aragón
5th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
1999
1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León 1st Stage 2
1st Subida a Urkiola
3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos 1st Stage 4
8th Overall Vuelta a España
8th Overall Tour de Romandie
2000
1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos 1st Mountains classification 1st Stage 3
1st Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stage 2
1st Stage 2 Critérium International
2nd Subida a Urkiola
3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya
6th Overall Volta a Comunidade Galega
10th Overall Giro d'Italia
2001
2nd Overall Giro del Trentino
9th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
9th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
2002
1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias 1st Stage 4
1st Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stage 1
3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
9th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
2003
1st Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stage 1
1st Subida a Urkiola
4th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
7th Overall Euskal Bizikleta
9th Overall Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas
2004
1st Subida a Urkiola
1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España
3rd Overall Tour de Romandie
3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos
3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
4th Overall Vuelta a Asturias
4th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
10th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
10th Overall Euskal Bizikleta
2005
2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stage 4
10th Overall Tour de Suisse
2006
Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 13 & 17
8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
2007
Giro d'Italia 1st Mountains classification 1st Stage 10
1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España
2008
1st Stage 10 Tour de France
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | DNF | 38 | DNF | 16 | DNF | 10 | DNF | — | — | — | — | 11 | 14 | DNF |
| Tour de France | — | 17 | — | 14 | — | DNF | 44 | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | DNF |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | 26 | — | 8 | — | — | — | 23 | 27 | 35 | 13 | DNF | — |
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
See also
External links
- at Cycling Archives ()