Francesco Casagrande

Casagrande was a professional cyclist between 1992 and 2005.

Francesco Casagrande

Personal information
Full name	Francesco Casagrande
Born	(1970-09-14) 14 September 1970 (age 53) Florence, Italy
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
1992–1995	Mercatone Uno–Medeghini–Zucchini
1996–1997	Saeco–AS Juvenes San Marino
1998	Cofidis
1999-2000	Vini Caldirola
2001–2002	Fassa Bortolo
2003–2004	Lampre
2004	Vini Caldirola–Nobili Rubinetterie
2005	Naturino–Sapore di Mare
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia Mountains classification (2000) 1 individual stage (2000) Stage Races Tirreno–Adriatico (1996) Tour of the Basque Country (1996) Tour de Suisse (1999) Giro del Trentino (2001, 2002) One-Day Races and Classics La Flèche Wallonne (2000) Clásica de San Sebastián (1998, 1999)

He was a proven performer in the Grand Tours and the major one-day races. He 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. Casagrande did, however, win the mountains classification, wearing the corresponding green jersey on the podium.

In major one-day races, he has won the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1998 and 1999, followed by the 2000 editions of the La Flèche Wallonne and Subida a Urkiola. Also in 1999, he placed 4th in the World Cycling Championships Road Race behind Óscar Freire, Markus Zberg, and Jean-Cyril Robin.

In his early career, Casagrande won the 1996 Tirreno–Adriatico and Tour of the Basque Country — both one-week stage races. In 1998, Casagrande tested positive for doping with testosterone during the Tour de Romandie, and consequently was fired by his team Cofidis. He was originally given a six-month sentence, later extended to nine months by the UCI. He 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. Casagrande also scored victories at the 2001 and 2002 Giro del Trentino and the 2002 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali. In the 2002 Giro d'Italia, Casagrande was expelled from the race, after knocking down another cyclist. In 2003, 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. He was unable to start the last stage due to urethritis. Casagrande was barred from competing in the 2004 Vuelta a España a day before its start due to a high hematocrit level, indicating the use of erythropoietin (EPO), a popular doping product. As a consequence, the Lampre team released him from his contract, allowing him to move mid-season to Vini Caldirola–Nobili Rubinetterie. In 2005, Casagrande retired.

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Giro d'Italia	40	22	10	31	—	—	—	2	DNF	DSQ	DNF	—
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	6	DNF	—	—	DNF	—	—	—
/  Vuelta a España	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7	—	DNS

• List of doping cases in cycling
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences