Leonardo Piepoli

Leonardo Piepoli
	File:Piepoli 1C.JPG
Personal information
Full name	Leonardo Piepoli
Born	29 September 1971 (age 52); La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Height	Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Weight	54 kg (119 lb; 8.5 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1995–1997	Refin–Mobilvetta
1998	Saeco Macchine per Caffè
1999–2003	Banesto
2004–2008	Saunier Duval–Prodir
Major wins
	Giro d'Italia, 3 stages; Vuelta a España, 2 stages; Subida a Urkiola (1995, 1999, 2003, 2004)
	Infobox last updated on; 9 September 2007

Leonardo Piepoli (born 29 September 1971 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland) 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 effectivelty 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,^[1] 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.^[2] 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".^[3] In January 2009, he was suspended from the sport for two years.^[4]