Paris - The 2009 Tour de France will probably be the
sporting event with the most doping tests 'in history,'
International Cycling Union (UCI) head Pat McQuaid said Wednesday in
Paris.
McQuaid said eight to 12 riders would be tested after each of the
Tour's 21 stages, and two blood samples would be taken on opening day
from each of the 180 riders who start the race on July 4.
Each of the 300 riders currently eligible to start the Tour will
be tested 'between now and July 4' because the teams do not decide
until the final days who will actually ride in the race.
In addition, a group of 50 riders has been singled out for special
attention, McQuaid said. 'These 50 will get extra testing and more
detailed testing,' he added.
Among the targeted 50 riders are those considered favourites to
win the race or a stage, and some riders who have aroused suspicion.
'Many samples (taken in the Tour) will be stored for future
analysis,' McQuaid said, in case riders used substances that can only
be detected after a certain period of time has passed.
Retests of 2008 Tour samples, after a reliable test method was
introduced, led to several positive doping tests for a new generation
of the blood booster EPO, known as CERA. Drug offenders included the
original third-place finisher Bernhard Kohl of Austria.
McQuaid also said that the UCI would publish a list of riders next
week whose so-called biological passports revealed suspicious
information.
A biological passport is an electronic record for each rider in
which the results of all doping tests over a period of time are
collected.
It contains results of urine and blood tests, a haematological
profile taken from a series of blood samples and a steroid profile
consisting of the combined results of steroid levels in a series of
urine samples.
Although the UCI head said that disciplinary action would be taken
against these riders, it would not be done by his organization.
'We have no regulations that permit us to suspend a rider based on
information from his biological passport,' McQuaid said. 'We will
encourage their teams not to let them ride. Or the race organizers
can act.'
The Tour de France has been rocked by a number of high-profile
doping scandals over the past few years, including the
disqualification of the winner of the 2006 race, Floyd Landis, for
the use of testosterone.
USA
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