Paris - Some two weeks before the start of the 2009 Tour de
France, the head of the French Anti-Doping Authority (AFLD), Pierre
Bordry, made a startling anouncement.
The AFLD had developed a new test for a substance that was
previously undetectable, he said. But Bordry is keeping his cards
close to his vest.
'I'm not saying anything else about it,' he told the German Press
Agency dpa during a telephone interview. 'If we let the cheaters know
too much, they would find a way to adapt to it.'
It was not certain that the test would be ready on July 4, when
the Tour kicks off with a 15.5km individual time trial in Monaco. So
Bordry asked cycling's ruling body, the International Cycling Union
(UCI), to preserve samples taken during the race, so they could be
tested later for this substance.
The collaboration with the UCI is also new for Bordry and the
AFLD. A jurisdictional dispute between organizers of the Tour de
France and the UCI had made them adversaries, rather than allies.
Last year, the UCI even threatened to punish teams and riders who
took part in the Tour de France.
But all that has been ironed out, and Bordry is delighted.
'We worked all alone last year, so this situation is a great
improvement,' he said. 'This year we will have much more data to go
on. We also agreed to share information during the Tour. Let's see
how that will work.'
Among this new data is the biological passport, 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.
Bordry said that data contained in the biological passport could,
among other things, expose riders who dope by blood transfusion, a
method that is virtually undetectable.
The AFLD was created by law in April 2006 for the express purpose
of combating sports doping and protecting the health of athletes. It
began functioning on October 1, 2006, with Bordry as its head.
It is perhaps no coincidence that the two Tours that followed its
creation were among the most scandalous in the race's history.
In 2007, pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov and his entire
Astana team were kicked out of the race for doping and the Dane
Michael Rasmussen was removed by his Rabobank team when he seemed
poised to win the race because of doping suspicions.
In the 2008 Tour, six riders ultimately tested positive for a
banned substance, including three stage winners and the rider who
finished third in the overall race, Bernhard Kohl of Austria.
A total of 250 tests were carried out during last year's race.
This year, Bordry said, 'there will be just as many, and probably
more.'
Eight to 12 riders will be tested after each of the Tour's 21
stages, and two blood samples will be taken on opening day from each
of the 180 riders who start the race on July 4.
In addition, a group of 50 riders was singled out for extra
testing and more detailed testing procedures. This group of 50
includes favourites to win the race or a stage, and some riders who
have aroused suspicion.
Asked if he sometimes felt as if he and his testers were
perpetually one step behind the latest developments in doping, Bordry
struck an optimistic note.
'There are athletes who think they are smarter than our testers,
but they are wrong,' he said. 'Our testers are very well informed.'
He suggested there was something paradoxical in the AFLD's
struggle to catch athletes who use banned substances to improve their
performances.
'If we catch more cheaters than we did last year, of course it
will be a success,' Bordry said. 'But the goal is to find no cheaters
at all.'
USA
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