Jonathan Vaughters took responsibility for hiring Andrea Piccolo, who was accused of transporting human growth hormone (hGH) back to Italy from Colombia, and apologized to the EF Education-Easy Post team players and staff.

EF Education-Easypost fired Piccolo immediately upon confirmation of the accusations and made its decision public. The news shocked the cycling world, which had been largely free of doping scandals, and shocked the U.S.-registered World Tour team, which prides itself on its anti-doping stance.

EF Education-Easy Post's team sponsor appears to have maintained its support for the team, but Vaughters wanted to take responsibility for hiring Piccolo in 2022 and giving him a second chance after he was caught this spring using the unapproved sleeping drug clonazepam.

"I was the one who gave him the chance and brought him onto the team, and for that I apologize.

Vaughters acknowledged all the details and comments in the Times article to Cycling News in Bologna on Sunday.

Vaughters told the players and staff to share their thoughts on Piccolo and the impact his actions had on the team. Rather than sympathy, there was outrage over Piccolo's attempt to bring growth hormones from Colombia to Italy without regard for the credibility and integrity of the team.

"When Piccolo came to the team, he was Italian like me, so we got along and I tried to help him. When Piccolo came to the team, I befriended him because he was Italian like me and tried to help him.

Head Sports Director Charlie Wegelius emphasized the greater damage Piccolo's actions had caused.

"What angers me is that he could do this. I spend 150 days a year away from my family and working with you guys. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here," Wegelius apparently told the riders.

"What really pisses me off is that people are blaming Jonathan for what Piccolo did. I know what Jonathan and this team are trying to achieve.

Vaughters was doping in the 90s and has since played an important role in cleaning up the sport and making sure his riders don't need or want doping. He played a strategic role in the downfall of Lance Armstrong, but worked hard to run a clean team. He has often appointed players and staff who have confessed to doping and promised to help fight the problem.

"The riders of today do not deserve the burden of our generation," Vaughters said.

"What bothers me most is not the hatred that says, 'He's just a hypocrite when he says cycling is cleaned up.' I am almost immune to that. What saddens me is that today's kids don't deserve to have that done to them. For the most part, they are good kids who are racing clean, and the sadness in this case is that they are trying to reignite suspicion, suspicion, and cynicism.

EF Education-Easy Post, along with Betior, Richard Kalapas, Nielson Powles, and Ben Healy, is aiming for a stage win in the 2024 Tour de France. Kalapas joined Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegård, and Lemko Evenpoel after the steep climb of St. Luca on stage 2, where he was tied with Pogacar.

Piccolo is on the ground awaiting investigation by Italian police and Italian anti-doping authorities. He faces criminal charges for importing human growth hormone and could face a four-year ban from the sport.

In a message he sent to Vaughters, he seemed aware of the damage he had caused.

"Jonathan, I am speaking to you sincerely because I have already lost everything and I am aware of that. ...... I brought four drugs from Colombia, I don't want to tell you their names. They found them and detained me. They confiscated them at the airport

"They searched me and found nothing as a result, but that they found drugs they could not bring in. I apologize for this. Please forgive me."

Piccolo won a bronze medal at the 2018 Junior Time Trial World Championships and later won the prestigious Giro della Lunigiana stage race. He turned pro in Astana at the age of 19, but never raced with them, and after a difficult few months he returned to the Italian under-23 team. He then moved to Gazprom, but the team disbanded. However, he maintained his professional career with Gianni Savio's drone hopper team. [EF Education-EasyPost signed Piccolo in August 2022, with Piccolo's agent Giuseppe Accadolo, who represents a number of riders including Egan Bernal and Carapas. [Andrea's VO2 max was 97. I was astonished by that. I had never seen anything like that...VO2 Max doesn't mean everything in cycling, but it shows what's out there," Vaughters told the Times.

Piccolo has apparently been traveling back and forth between Colombia and Italy between race blocks this season, and after EF Education-Easypost reported his sleeping pills to the UCI, the ITA anti-doping agency and the Italian anti-doping police began tracking his movements. Little did he know.