A high-profile EPO case involving a top Italian amateur rider has reignited concerns over doping in Europe\u2019s booming gran fondo scene.<\/p>\n
Felice Giangregorio, 38, is provisionally suspended after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), Italian anti-doping authorities confirmed.<\/p>\n
The case is significant because Giangregorio, a top performer on the Italian circuit, previously served a four-year ban after a positive test in October 2019, also for EPO. The story was first reported on Gran Fondo Daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n It is the latest doping scandal to hit the thriving amateur racing scene.<\/p>\n It is difficult to determine how widespread doping is across gran fondo and amateur racing. Amateur and gran fondo riders are bound by the same World Anti-Doping Agency rules as professional athletes.<\/p>\n Most competitors in these mass-participation events race clean, but a series of recent high-profile cases is putting a spotlight on the niche.<\/p>\n Gran fondo racing is one of Europe\u2019s largest amateur sports, with hundreds of events drawing massive fields across Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, often including former professionals.<\/p>\n Prize money is limited, but riders compete for prestige and amateur glory.<\/p>\n Testing remains inconsistent and is often limited by resources, though most national federations conduct some controls during the season.<\/p>\n Intelligence-led targeting is also used to flag suspicious performances.<\/p>\n Last year, American amateur Matthew Clark, 41, of North Salt Lake City, tested positive during the 2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Lorne, Australia.<\/p>\n Clark won the men\u2019s 40-44 time trial title on October 16, but a same-day control detected anabolic androgenic steroids.<\/p>\n Clark was so fast in his category that he ranked third overall among 255 riders across all age groups.<\/p>\n He initially received a four-year sanction, but it was later reduced by one year after admitting the violation within a prescribed time limit.<\/p>\n Clark was disqualified from his world title and rainbow jersey, but his U.S. national masters road title from July 2025, remains valid because it predates the positive test.<\/p>\n The latest case in Italy proves that anti-doping agencies are at least keeping an eye on gran fondo racing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/epo-bust-gran-fondo-doping-questions-amateur\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-162252257.jpeg”] Andrew Hood Updated May 5, 2026 10:16AM A high-profile EPO case involving a top Italian amateur rider has reignited concerns over doping in Europe\u2019s booming gran fondo scene. Felice Giangregorio, 38, is provisionally suspended after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), Italian anti-doping authorities confirmed. The case is significant because Giangregorio, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1921339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1921339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1921339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1921339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1921339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}American masters world champion banned<\/h2>\n