UCI to launch anti-doping passports next year

iainf72

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/17/ ... 17dope.php

I wonder how they will foul it up?

LangerDan

iainf72 wrote:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/17/sports/17dope.php

I wonder how they will foul it up?

Queues at the anti-doping passport office?
Fast-track passports for those reckoned to be in with a shout of an Olympic medal?
Bespectacled, mouse-like guys producing uncanny forgeries from a back-office above the "Don Corleone" pizzeria, Palermo.?

Am I close?

Kléber

All in all, a useful measure in the right direction but late and by itself, not enough.

After a decade of inaction - the French introduced this scheme for their elite riders after the Festina scandal - it is better late than never. The UCI said it was "too expensive", only look at the damage done since.

Still, it is only one step. Ivan Basso was cited as an example of normal values, we all know what he was "attempting". Meanwhile riders who have already shown bizarre hormonal values, like the Giro riders supposedly sharing parameters with castrati, can continue to ride.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

Still, it is only one step. Ivan Basso was cited as an example of normal values, we all know what he was "attempting".

This is an interesting point and something I've been wondering about. If Ivan's blood was cited as normal (alongside Boonen) this means a couple of things

a) he was only going to attempt doping
b) these blood tests don't work
c) grand cover up

Now, the UCI have shared blood test results with the teams and it shows odd results from the Spanish / Eyetalians. So would Ivan not have shown up as dodgy? Is the wool being pulled over our eyes with blood / hormone level monitoring?

Answers on a used blood bag to the usual address.

Kléber

Basically, if you are blood doping, you can supply the blood in small quantities over time, so there's no noticeable changes in your values. A few cc every day and soon you'll have a fridge full. And then this is only infused hours before the start of a race and drained out in the evening after the stage (assuming the UCI doesn't do haematocrit checks during daylight hours, which has always been true).

So if I can come up with a way around this system in two minutes, imagine what certain doctors and riders can do?

skavanagh.bikeradar

I except that they are introducing a range of measures that are targetted in the areas most likely to disrupt doping practices, and they will not be foiled by the scheming of a 2 year old monkey.

Oh look, a pig...witih wings.....

biking_mongoose

Agree in principle but think it could go further. Currently, rider have to report where they will be at a defined time so that, if required, the dope police can turn up and take the pee. This has resulted in a number of athletes missing tests and subsequently succumbing to suspensions.

How about placing the onus on the rider to ensure that they are clean. They have to go to an approved medical unit ever whatever the agreed period is (every week, 2 weeks, month etc but the more frequent the better). This sample would then be either tested on site or sent to a central testing facility. The results would be recorded on the riders "blood passport". Failure to have an up-to-date passport would result in immediate suspension for a period of 6 months (enouh for the effects of the dope to wear off should that be what they are trying to hide when out of competition doping). Riders cannot race unless they can produce their documents showing that they have tested recently and are clean.

Just an idea.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

Basically, if you are blood doping, you can supply the blood in small quantities over time, so there's no noticeable changes in your values. A few cc every day and soon you'll have a fridge full. And then this is only infused hours before the start of a race and drained out in the evening after the stage (assuming the UCI doesn't do haematocrit checks during daylight hours, which has always been true).

This would show up.

And here's why, even if they extracted a unit of blood after they've finished the stage, their blood will show a mismatch in the level of mature red blood cells and raise the flag. They already know who is doing blood doping because of this but it's not considered proof.

Titanium

The passport won't be proof. But it can help monitor what is going on.

With sponsors running scared, the UCI has taken a long time to talk about this. Anne Gripper looks like a hurricane of fresh air in the stale corridors of the UCI, where the likes of Verbruggen and McQuaid have sought to sweep the mess under the carpet for too long. Better late than never and more power to McQuaid, his U-turn on this idea is welcome.