(SPOILER: This is a comedy post not based on fact.)
Bradley Wiggins new book ICONS is missing the final iconic rider thanks to an error at the printing company.
While the book contains all of Wiggins’ cycling heroes, people such as Eddy Merckx and Fabian Cancellara, the chapter devoted to icon Riccardo Ricco was accidentally left out of the book.
The Italian was nailed several times for doping and was thrown out of the 2008 Tour de France after testing positive for the CERA variant of EPO. He nearly killed himself in 2011 after going himself a transfusion of stale blood. He was later banned for 12 years by Italy’s National Anti-doping Court.
Critics of Wiggins’ new book are already upset that he has listed Lance Armstrong as an icon despite the Texan being stripped of his seven tour wins for doping at the US Postal and Discovery teams. While Wiggins had been vehemently anti-doping earlier in his career, his opinion has surprisingly softened on Armstrong. UCI president David Lappartient called the inclusion of Armstrong “unbelievable” and “unacceptable”.
However, the fact that Riccardo Ricco was also listed as an icon is sure to bring new pressure on Wiggins to explain himself. “It’s an odd choice, isn’t it?” said Italian journalist Fabio Fibberelli. “Ricco was a poster child for doping, he was just insane. I don’t know why Wiggins would put him down as an icon. It makes no sense.”
Wiggins has capitalized on the media storm over his views on Armstrong to boost sales of his Icons book. Will the Riccardo Ricco chapter create even more controversy? The digital version of Icons will have the Ricco chapter inserted and a second printing of the book promises to include the missing Ricco portion.
Perhaps, to quote Bradley Wiggins, you might say something like, “pro cycling, it’s a funny old thing.” It certainly is.
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