Pasquale Muto (Miche-Guerciotti) has tested positive for EPO in a test at the Giro dell'Appennino last month, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has announced. The 30-year-old from Naples finished fifth in the race, as part of a leading group of seven, which was won by Lampre-ISD’s Damiano Cunego.
The presence of recombinant EPO was detected in Muto’s A-sample by the laboratory in Rome, and CONI’s Natonal Anti-doping Tribunal has provisionally suspended the rider. It is not yet known whether he will request that the B-sample is analysed.
Muto’s Miche-Guerciotti is not without previous controversy; it has notoriously offered a way back into the sport for past doing offenders including Michael Rasmussen and Stefan Schumacher. Although, having served their allotted suspensions the riders have been legally free to race once more, the nature of their cases has made their returns less than welcome in many circles.
Muto has spent his entire eight-year professional career with the Miche team, save for a short stint as a stagiere with Panaria-Fiordo. His victories to date include a stage of the 2007 Tour of Bulgaria and a stage of the 2009 Tour of Slovakia, which saw him wear the leader’s jersey for two days.
Since his appearance at the Giro dell’Appenino, Muto has finished 14th overall in the Giro del Trentino, and 19th in this week’s Vuelta a Asturias, where he rode in support of second place Constantino Zaballa and double stage winner Schumacher.