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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...