Doping tests in Spain and Germany

The Vuelta a España and the Deutschland Tour are doing their bit to combat doping, no matter how difficult that task may be. The Vuelta has a time problem Thursday evening after the stage, while the German race is conducting more tests than ever before.

In Spain, the peloton is scheduled to take a high-speed train 500km north to the Pyrenees on Thursday evening. The stage is supposed to end at 6pm, at its slowest predicted speed. The train leaves at 6.45. If the peloton comes in late, then the selected riders will probably have to give their samples during the train ride.

Over in Germany, the Deutschland Tour has conducted 39 doping controls from the prologue through the first five days, for an average of nearly eight riders per day. "According to the rules, at least six riders must be tested after every stage. We are going above and beyond that at the Deutschland Tour," Jan van Gestel, UCI anti-doping commissioner told Radsportnews.

In addition, he noted that all of the special jersey holders were given additional urine tests before the fourth stage, and that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) conducted controls on 16 teams the day before the race started.