Androni Giocattoli team faces suspension after second positive test

The entire Italian Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec team faces suspension from competition after a second rider from the squad failed an anti-doping test this season.

Thirty-year-old Italian rider Fabio Taborre failed a test for banned substance FG-4592, which the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) reports 'has the property of stimulating the endogenous production of EPO'. Taborre failed the test on June 16.

The news of Taborre's positive from the UCI comes only weeks after the organisation released a statement confirming that the team's sprinter Davide Appollonio failed a test for EPO on June 14.

According to new anti-doping rules introduced at the start of 2015, a team with two doping positives in a 12-month period will face a ban from between 15 and 45 days. The exact duration of the suspension will be decided by the UCI's Disciplinary Commission.

Taborre has the right to request that his B sample is tested, and can be present when the test takes place.

Taborre has previously ridden for Italian teams Acqua & Sapone and Vini Fantini. His last victory was a stage of the 2012 Tour of Austria.

The UCI Professional Continental level Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec are due to start the RideLondon-Surrey Classic on Sunday, August 2. It is unclear whether the suspension will be in place before the race starts.