Gabriel Raff from Argentina, who has a 8:40:27 time to his name from the 2010 Ironman Brazil, tested positive for EPO at the 2019 Campagnolo GFNY World Championship in NYC according to the race organizers. Raff finished that Gran Fondo in 25th place in 4:31:10. Colombian rider Felipe Mendez, who finished 20 minutes later, also tested positive for EPO per the race organization.
In 2010 Raff was the top age grouper at Ironman Brazil, finishing 9th overall. At the 2010 Ironman World Championships he finished in 9:10:42, posting a 9:40:52 time in Kona the year before.
According to Athlinks, Raff has several 70.3 finishes between 2003 and 2011, many with finish times at or below 4hr30min.
On April 12th of this year Raff posted on the Slowtwitch Reader Forum looking for a homestay in New York City for the Gran Fondo NYC event. That thread has been revived after the news of his positive doping result.
An article on the race website stated that both were among several randomly selected athletes out of a testing pool of 60, which contained riders with a legitimate chance to place in the top 10 overall or win an age group.
[IMAGE: Courtesy GFNY]
