Russia's Denis Menchov had the biggest victory for Rabobank in 2009, winning the Giro d'Italia general classification.(Image credit: Rudi Ottens)
Two Rabobank riders in the bunch(Image credit: Patrik Pátek)
Dutch ProTour squad Rabobank has issued a detailed list of the urine and blood control tests carried out by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on each member of its 30 rider roster in 2009.
The total of 484 tests included 304 urine tests and 180 blood tests, conducted both in and out of competition. The riders averaged 16 tests each over the year. Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov was the most tested as he underwent 42 controls throughout the season. At the other end of the spectrum was Mauricio Ardilla, with only five.
The team pointed out that the numerous tests make it easier for the International Cycling Union (UCI) to develop individual profiles for each rider under the biological passport programme; enabling the UCI to detect potential abnormalities. Despite the stringent requirements of the programme, team management expressed their satisfaction with the efforts made by riders to meet their responsibilities.
"The biological passport requires an effort from everyone in the team: riders have to fill in their whereabouts and be available for testing. The riders have done this task well,” said Harold Knebel, general director of Rabo Cycling Teams.
In June 2009, Rabobank reported that in the first half of the season, its riders had undergone 240 controls.
The following is the complete list, with the riders' names followed by the number of urine and blood tests undertaken by each rider, respectively:
Denis Menchov (21 - 21) Juan Manuel Garate (19 - 9) Oscar Freire (17 – 10) Robert Gesink (16 – 10) Juan Antonio Flecha (13 – 7) Stef Clement (13 – 8) Joost Posthuma (11 – 8) Laurens Ten Dam (11 – 7) Paul Martens (13 – 5) Lars Boom (10 – 8) Koos Moerenhout (12 – 5) Bram de Groot (12 – 5) Pieter Weening (10 – 6) Tom Leezer (10 – 6) Grischa Niermann (12 – 4) Sebastian Langeveld (7 – 9) Bram Tankink (11 – 3) Maarten Tjallingii (9 – 5) Dmitriy Kozontchuk (9 – 5) Mathew Hayman (10 – 3) Graeme Brown (6 – 7) Tom Stamsnijder (8 – 4) Rick Flens (7 - 4) Kai Reus (5 – 6) Nick Nuyens (7 – 4) Jos van Emden (7 – 3) Bauke Mollema (5 – 3) Marc de Maar (4 – 3) Pedro Horrillo (5 – 2) Mauricio Ardila (4 – 1)
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Rabobank target transparency
Rabobank's release of 2009 doping controls details tests carried out by the International Cycling Union (UCI). However, the figures released by the team on Tuesday do not include a number of other tests conducted throughout the season by both the team themselves and by third parties.
