Bartolomeo Campailla, a 37 year-old amateur road cyclist from Sicily, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) — the second Italian amateur cyclist to face such a suspension in less than a week.
Italy’s Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping (TNA), acting on a request from the National Anti-Doping Prosecution Office, imposed the provisional suspension on Campailla, who competes under the CSAIN federation, for violations of Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the Italian anti-doping code. Specific details associated with the test were not disclosed, but it was conducted by NADO Italia, and the suspension was announced on Tuesday 5 May.
The timing is striking. Just two days earlier, on Sunday 3 May, Campailla raced the Granfondo Circuito Mondiali 76 in Ostuni, Puglia, finishing the medio route 12th overall and 3rd in the M2 category with a time of 2:40:12. The result was celebrated on the Facebook page of his club, ASD Team Nuova Avir, which has not commented on NADO Italia’s announcement.
The suspension comes just 24 hours after Gran Fondo Daily News reported on another provisional suspension for EPO. Felice Giangregorio, a former Italian national medio fondo champion with a prior four-year EPO ban already on his record. The two cases, announced consecutively by NADO Italia, underline the continued challenge Italian anti-doping authorities face in the amateur peloton.
EPO stimulates red blood cell production and remains one of the most commonly detected banned substances in Italian amateur cycling. Under the WADA Code, a first violation typically carries a four-year ban.
The provisional suspension is a precautionary measure pending full proceedings. Campailla retains the right to request B-sample analysis. He is presumed innocent until a full TNA hearing is held and a final decision announced.
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