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Predicting How the New Wada Code Will Impact Cycling

Anti-doping is both simple and complex. The simple perspective is this: don’t take any banned drugs or use any banned methods, make yourself available for testing when requested, get any TUEs in advance, avoid contaminated supplements and medicines, and you’ll be fine. The complex perspective, on the other hand, is illustrated by the new World Anti-Doping Code – 180 pages, 27 Articles with six associated international standards. The 2021 code will be the fourth one, with the previous codes being issued in 2003, 2009 and 2015. While it may be advisable that athletes become familiar with these documents, it is easy to understand why that is a very challenging prospect. This article outlines some of the key changes which will come into force on January 1, 2021, and which could potentially affect cyclists. The new code: Much of it remains the same, notably the four-year ban for a...

A Missed Warning Signal

This was originally published on Velonews, continue reading it here. If you want to read more of our pieces, check out our full Velonews article library. The individual time trial at the Tour de France on the shores of Lac de Vassiviere, in 1995, suggests a simple way to effectively police the peloton and make the sport more exciting at the same time. The recent ESPN “30 For 30” documentary on Lance Armstrong may have been intended as a character study, but Director Marina Zenovich also provided some new and deeper insights into professional cycling’s doping culture – and how the sport ignored many warning signs and institutional failures. Pro cycling’s reputation remains shaky in the public eye as a result, even though it has arguably innovated and implemented more sweeping measures to control doping than most other sports. These new insights should not be overlooked as we...

Anti-Doping During the COVID-19 Lockdown

As the 2020 Tour de France looms less than three months away a skeptic could be excused for wondering if the current COVID-19 lockdown period offers a one-time opportunity for would-be dopers in the sport. All the riders have been at home by themselves, very little testing has been conducted, and everyone knows the proposed date on which the racing calendar will restart. This seems like a dream set of circumstances for those who would try to cheat the system. While anti-doping agencies around the world are striving to adapt to the “new normal” with various innovations in remote and virtual testing, will it be enough to ensure clean racing in the months ahead? The president of the UCI, David Lappartient, recently underlined the fragility of anti-doping in pro cycling by pointing out that out-of-competition testing capacity has dropped by about 95 percent in recent weeks. A number of top...

Q&A With Michael Ask, Chairman of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations

Michael Ask, the CEO of Anti-Doping Denmark (ADD) has emerged as one of the world leaders in the anti-doping movement over the past several years. Besides running the Danish entity, Ask is also the current chairman of the International Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO). Ask comes to the job with a somewhat unconventional background compared to his peers; he worked for 30 years for the Danish National Police force, where he eventually became chief of the National Crime Agency. Ask is also a former elite-level tennis player and sports aficionado, and after retiring from the police force in 2015, switched gears to join ADD. His pragmatic, no-nonsense approach to anti-doping quickly raised his international profile as an outspoken voice in the field, and was recently elected by the Board of iNADO to serve as its Chair. In that capacity, he plays a much wider role to...

How Drug Anti-Diversion Techniques Can Be Used to Curb Doping

On January 30th, 2020, the Spanish Guardia Civil announced that it had disrupted a performance-enhancing drug diversion and trafficking ring operating out of Barcelona, with supplies originating in a Cadiz dialysis clinic. The sheer scale of this raid, aptly named “Operacion Hypoxianet,” again raises doubts about the effectiveness of sports anti-doping programs and testing. It may also foreshadow an emerging policy shift towards drug anti-diversion to reduce sports-related doping, to rebuild athlete trust, and, most importantly, protect public health and safety. The absurd cache found in the seizure – at least 850 pre-filled recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) individual doses, long-known to be abused by athletes to increase endurance – shows that large-scale drug diversion operations connected to sports can thrive for years without exposure. According to El Mundo, the Cadiz connection...

Analyzing Bjarne Riis’s Return to Pro Cycling With NTT Pro Cycling

News last week that Bjarne Riis would be returning to a leadership role in the UCI men’s WorldTour was met with a healthy dose of skepticism and head-shaking from most corners of the sport. Widely reported in the cycling media as a “merger,” Riis and his Virtu Cycling financial partners actually just took an initial 30 percent minority stake in the NTT Pro Cycling Team, formerly known as Team Dimension Data. The Danish 1996 Tour de France winner will reportedly have a top-tier management and Director’s seat, and is bringing former associates and riders – the addition of Michael Rogers was announced yesterday – onto the team. From the broader sporting perspective, there should be some optimism for stability, refocused competitive goals, and sponsorship activation as a result of this merger. However, there is also a sort of revolving door fatigue when characters like Riis come back in,...