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(ANSA) - Paris, July 17 - The career of rising Italian cycling star Riccardo Ricco' crashed Thursday after he was found positive for blood-booster EPO at the Tour de France and arrested by French gendarmes. Ricco', who had likened himself to idol Marco Pantani after his second Tour stage win, was led away from the start of the 12th stage through a jeering crowd. His team, Saunier Duval, pulled out of the race. Ricco', 24, was considered the best climber of his generation and a potential heir to Pantani. Some fans had already started calling him 'the Pirate', the same nickname of the bandana-clad Pantani who did the Giro-Tour double in 1998 before doping woes and cocaine use led to his death from a cocaine overdose in 2004. French authorities said traces of a 'third generation' of EPO called 'Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor... [read full story]
