Francesco Casagrande was born on 14 September 1970 in Florence and is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist.
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10 Facts About Francesco Casagrande
2.
Francesco Casagrande was a proven performer in the Grand Tours and the major one-day races.
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3.
Francesco Casagrande wore the leader's jersey into the penultimate stage of the 2000 Giro d'Italia, but faltered badly and wound up 2nd to fellow Italian Stefano Garzelli.
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4.
In 1998, Francesco Casagrande tested positive for doping with testosterone during the Tour de Romandie, and consequently was fired by his team Cofidis.
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5.
Francesco Casagrande was originally given a six-month sentence, later extended to nine months by the UCI.
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6.
Francesco Casagrande returned to racing at the 1999 Tour de Suisse, a race that he won, taking the leader's jersey away from Laurent Jalabert on stage 9.
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7.
Francesco Casagrande scored victories at the 2001 and 2002 Giro del Trentino and the 2002 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali.
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8.
In 2003, Francesco Casagrande won two mountain stages in the Tour de Suisse, but lost the leader's jersey in the penultimate day's time trial to Alexander Vinokourov.
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9.
Francesco Casagrande was unable to start the last stage due to urethritis.
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10.
Francesco Casagrande was barred from competing in the 2004 Vuelta a Espana a day before its start due to a high hematocrit level, indicating the use of erythropoietin, a popular doping product.
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