As we have reported yesterday, the former Giro d’Italia young rider classification winner Riccardo Ricco was caught by the Italian NAS police formation on buying doping products from two dealers in the outskirts of Livorno. However, the 30-year old Italian denied that EPO and testosterone seized during the action were destined for him and instead claimed that he has found himself “in the wrong place and in the wrong time”.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, the matter has nothing to do with me,” Riccò said according to ANSA.

Ricco, currently serving a 12-year ban for blood doping, planned record attempts on cycling most renowned climbs including Galibier, Mont Ventoux or l’Alpe d’Huez this summer, but both the rider and his lawyer denied that there exists a link between the recent incident and those plans.

“No doping product was seized from Riccardo. He’s making a statement in order to clear up the matter with magistrates,” Ricco’s lawyer Fiorenzo Alessi told ANSA, adding that the money found in the car did not belong to Riccò: “It wasn’t his, it was his friend’s.”

“There’s no link between the charges against him and the sporting attempt that Riccò himself spoke about last year,” Alessi said.