Giampaolo Caruso

Giampaolo Caruso (born 15 August 1980) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the , , , and squads.

During his professional career, Caruso took five victories – all coming in Italy – with three stage wins and the general classification at the 2009 Brixia Tour, and a one-day race success at the 2014 Milano–Torino. He was also twice suspended for doping violations – in 2003, he was given a six-month ban for the use of nandrolone at the 2003 Tour Down Under, and in 2015, he was banned for two years after a positive drugs test for erythropoietin (EPO) recorded three years earlier.

Career Born in Avola, Caruso spent the first five years of his professional career with the team. In 2003, Caruso initially won a stage of the Tour Down Under, but he tested positive for nandrolone at the race, and was stripped of this result – which was not publicly acknowledged by race organisers until 2012, in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping case. He was accused in the Operación Puerto doping case, but his case was soon dropped by the Spanish federation. The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) wanted him suspended for two years, but he was acquitted of involvement by the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Ceramica Flaminia–Bossini Docce (2008–2010) After a season with in 2007, Caruso joined in May 2008. He had a contract with the team through 2011, but on 6 April 2010, after the Giro d'Italia organizers had announced that Ceramica Flaminia was not invited to the race, he was allowed to break his contract and to sign with , who assumed the contract through its duration.

Team Katusha (2010–2015) signed him mainly in order to be their general classification contender in the Giro d'Italia. which led to Caruso having scrapes from another rider's chainring on his chest; he remained in the race, and finished his début Tour de France.

At the 2014 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Caruso led out of the final corner in Ans, but was overtaken on the run to the finish line by winner Simon Gerrans, Alejandro Valverde and Michał Kwiatkowski, ultimately finishing fourth in the monument. On stage two of the Giro d'Italia Caruso crashed heavily in a feedzone which he went to hospital for in Northern Ireland, but did not pull out of the race until the race returned to Italy, following stage 6. In August 2014, announced they had extended Caruso's contract through to the end of 2016. Caruso's only one-day race win came at October's Milano–Torino where he beat Rinaldo Nocentini to the finish line by three seconds.

In August 2015, it was announced that Caruso had returned a positive test for EPO in March 2012. He was given a two-year ban, and he did not return to the professional peloton.

Major results Source:

2000 1st Giro del Belvedere 3rd Gran Premio di Poggiana 2001 1st Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships

2nd Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza 3rd Giro del Belvedere 4th Trofeo Alcide Degasperi 5th Gran Premio Palio del Recioto 2002 8th Overall Tour de l'Avenir 9th Overall Paris–Corrèze 2003 4th Overall Tour Down Under 1st Stage 5 4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 2004 10th Amstel Gold Race 10th Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 2005 4th Giro di Lombardia 2006 8th Overall Tour de Suisse 2007 5th Overall Tour of Slovenia 2008 5th Overall Tour of Austria 5th Giro dell'Emilia 6th Overall Euskal Bizikleta 8th Coppa Placci 10th Overall GP CTT Correios de Portugal 10th Giro dell'Appennino 2009 1st Overall Brixia Tour 1st Stages 1b, 2 & 4 3rd Overall Route du Sud 4th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore 5th Trofeo Melinda 7th Overall Tour of Austria 7th Overall Giro del Trentino 7th Giro dell'Appennino 9th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria 10th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 2010 7th Overall Vuelta a Burgos 1st Stage 3 (TTT) 10th Giro di Lombardia 2012 3rd Trofeo Melinda 2013 4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos 5th GP Miguel Induráin 7th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 9th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore 9th Strade Bianche 2014 1st Milano–Torino 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2015 6th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 10th Strade Bianche

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Giro d'Italia— 19 12——— 46 42— 41 DNF— Tour de France———————— 37—— 90 / Vuelta a España 72 59———— 36—— 49 15—

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish No. Voided result