UCI code AND Discipline Road Website Team home page Bicycle Kuota | Registered Italy Bicycles Bottecchia Bicycles Founded 1996 | |
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Status UCI Professional Continental Profiles | ||
Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec (UCI team code: AND) is an Italian-registered UCI Professional Continental cycling team that participates in road bicycle racing events on the UCI Continental Circuits and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events. Antonio Castano manages the team, with assistance from directeurs sportifs Ellena Giovanni, Gianni Savio, Didier Paindaveine and Marco Bellini. The main sponsors, Androni Giocattoli S.A., are an Italian toy manufacturer.
Doping
On June 5, 2014, Patrick Facchini gave an adverse analytical finding for Tuaminoheptane and was consequently banned for 10 months.
On June 30, 2015, Davide Appollonio gave an adverse analytical finding for EPO and was provisionally suspended. On July 27, 2015, Fabio Taborre gave a positive test result for the banned blood-booster FG-4592 in an out-of-competition control on June 16. The team were automatically suspended by the UCI under new rules. FG-4592 (Roxadustat) is in phase 3 clinical trials and has not yet been commercialised. The drug was developed jointly by FibroGen and AstraZeneca. Unlike EPO, which directly stimulates the production of red blood cells, FG-4592 is taken orally, and stimulates natural production of EPO in a manner similar to altitude training. This class of compounds has been outlawed by WADA. The UCI subsequently suspended the team for 30 days.
