UPDATE 14 February 2022: NADO Italia has banned Parente 4 years for EPO doping, from 18 November 2021 until 18 November 2025.
47 year-old former pro cyclist and 2017 UCI Gran Fondo World Champion Simona Parente (OM.CC) has been preliminarily suspended by the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) for alleged anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs).
Parente is one of the top female gran fondo riders in the world, having won Italy’s premier events including Via de Sale, Strade Bianche, Lombardy and the UEC European Championship. As a professional from 1996 – 2003 she had more than 30 victories and represented Italy at the World Championships.
Her case has been referred to Italy’s National Anti Doping Organisation (NADO) for trial by the National Anti Doping Tribunal (TNA). Specific details of the alleged anti-doping violation(s) and/or involved banned substances have not yet been released, nor has a trial date been set.
This is not Parente’s first brush with controversy. In 2002 as a member of the Italian National Team, she was suspected of blood doping after a test revealed the presence of too much erythropoiesis. As an amateur gran fondo racer in 2017 Parente was disqualified, suspended for two weeks and fined after taking illegal mechanical support at Gran Fondo Pinarello.
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