Italian Gran Fondo racer tampered with drug test; banned 8 Years

Another day, another fondo rider busted. Anastasia Mazzolin, who won Gran Fondo Templari, was ordered to undergo an NADO Italia anti-doping test. She violated anti-doping rules by tampering with the test and refusing to submit a biological sample, as first reported by Gran Fondo Daily.

The Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal found her guilty and imposed a 4-year ban ending on September 22 2026. In June, the National Anti-Doping Prosecutor’s Office extended Mazzolin’s ban by another 4 years without explanation.

Although NADO Italia did not publicly announce the new ban or provide details, the update was posted on the latest Italian Cycling Federation Sanctioned Riders List. The new sanction may be related to the original “tampering” violation, which requires any associated ban to be served consecutively, or it may be due to undisclosed new anti-doping violations.

The NADO Italia rule

The NADO Italia rule states: “If NADO Italia establishes that an Athlete or other Person committed a violation of Article 2.5 in connection with the Doping Control process for an underlying asserted anti-doping rule violation, the violation shall be treated as a stand-alone first violation and the period of Ineligibility for such violation shall be served consecutively, rather than concurrently, with the period of Ineligibility, if any, imposed for the underlying anti-doping rule violation.”

Mazzolin is banned from participating in any sport until 22 September 2030, when she will be 46 years old.

Doping at Fondos

There have been several cases of doping in fondos in Italy recently. In May, NADO Italia charged 31-year-old Lorenzo Sbrana with an anti-doping violation after allegedly testing positive for tuaminoheptane. That was the second instance in the past three years where Sbrana has tested positive for substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In 2021, he tested positive for methylprednisolone.

Another Italian, Fabio Cini, was suspended for a positive test for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol during the 19th edition of Ricordando Marco Pantani, an event he won. This drug is the same one for which Canadian Ben Johnson tested positive during the 1988 Olympic Games. Cini’s 37-year-old teammate, Domenico Antonio Nigro, was served a five-year ban from the National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) following a positive test for both testosterone and EPO. As a result, Nigro will be unable to compete until 2027. His other teammate, 24-year-old Giovanni Battista Vendemia, was handed a three-year ban for refusing to give a sample. He is banned until 2025.

6 riders from same team tested in February

In February, shortly after the start of the Gran Fondo Laigueglia, the NAS (Carabinieri for Health Protection) presented themselves to the organizers to conduct targeted anti-doping checks. Led by a marshal, the NAS requested the list of participants in the gran fondo from the organizers. They later stopped the athletes identified at the end of the race, as first reported by tutobiciweb.it. The checks were carried out in two hotel rooms provided by the organizers. The riders tested were all from the same team. Six out of the 13 MG Kvis riders participating in the event were subjected to testing by NAS, but their identities were not disclosed.