By Francois Thomazeau
BRIANCON, France, July 13 - Dario Frigo, held by
French police in a doping probe on Wednesday, is one of the
"blitz generation" of Italian riders involved in recent drugs
scandals and police raids.
Frigo was detained by police before the start of the 11th
stage of the Tour de France after performance-enhancing drugs
were found in a car driven by his wife.
The 31-year-old from Lombardy, born in the same village as
former King of the mountains Claudio Chiappucci, first made a
name for himself on the road in 2001 when he won Paris-Nice, the
Tour of Romandie and a major time trial on the Giro d'Italia.
Fame was soon followed by infamy for the blond rider, seen
at the time as one of Italy's brightest cycling prospects.
He was one of the leading figures caught up in the Giro
doping scandal of 2001 when police raided team hotels, an event
the Italian media termed 'the blitz'.
Frigo, who had worn the race leader's pink jersey for nine
days, was suspended for nine months after various doping
products were found in his luggage.
The biggest fish caught in the 'blitz' was 1998 Tour de
France and Giro winner Marco Pantani, who was suspended for six
months after an insulin syringe was found in his hotel room.
Pantani, who had been expelled from the 1999 Giro for
failing a blood haematocrit test on the eve of the finish, died
of a cocaine overdose in February 2004.
In 2002, two other Giro winners, Gilberto Simoni and Stefano
Garzelli, failed dope tests.
The 2000 champion Garzelli tested positive for a banned
diuretic and was given a nine-month ban. Simoni, winner in 2001,
tested positive for cocaine but was later cleared by the Italian
Cycling Federation.
'PAST OFFENDER'
Tough anti-doping measures and police raids had boosted
cycling officials' confidence that doping practices were on the
decline but should Frigo be found guilty it would indicate
little has changed.
"Once again we're appalled to realise and we regret that a
rider who is a past offender and has had problems with the
police and sports authorities is arrested again," Tour director
Jean-Marie Leblanc said.
"Frigo belongs to a generation of riders who did not learn a
thing. This generation must disappear as quickly as possible and
leave the place to a new generation who respect the rules, our
code of ethics and the conduct code of the International Cycling
Union.
"By his behaviour, Frigo has made himself an outsider,"
Leblanc added.
Frigo returned to the sport in 2002 after his doping ban and
won a mountain stage in Cluses in that year's Tour.
"Last year in Paris-Nice and in the Tour of Romandie, I had
proved I was one of the best and then I had misfortunes," he
said at the time.
He was 52nd in the overall standings when misfortune struck
again in the form of police officers knocking on the door of his
hotel room in Courchevel.
Frigo's Fassa Bortolo team called his arrest "an isolated
incident" which was not related to the team in any way, but it
is a serious blow for an outfit whose manager Giancarlo Feretti
was struggling to find a sponsor for next season.