Cycling union tight-lipped on press conference
Pat McQuaid to discuss anti-doping programme with French
Questioned as to whether any announcements about the biological passport would be made at tomorrow's press conference in Paris, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has remained tight-lipped.
"We will talk about our collaboration with the AFLD [French anti-doping agency ] for the Tour de France," UCI President Pat McQuaid told Cyclingnews. The Irishman refused to comment as to whether or not results from the biological passport would be disclosed.
What is certain to be discussed is the anti-doping programme for the Tour, as it is the official purpose of the conference. Last year, the French anti-doping agency AFLD was responsible for testing and caught several riders, including stage winners Riccardo Riccò and Stefan Schumacher, plus the mountains classification victor and third-placed finisher Bernhard Kohl.
The two bodies announced in March that they would work together for this year's Tour. "The AFLD did an excellent job in those controls," stated McQuaid at the time. "Some riders tested positive and that's a success. It's important that the cheats get caught."
Whether or not the biological passport is on the schedule, it's likely to be brought up by the media following Kohl's comments to L'Equipe.
The cycling union announced the passport programme in late 2007 and test results began to be analysed shortly after that point. There has been a considerable wait for results, something that is attributed to the necessity to have watertight cases as it is the first time such an anti-doping protocol has been used by a sporting governing body.
Rather than pinpointing one positive result, as has been the case with previous anti-doping tests, the biological passport seeks to build a profile from which suspicious deviations can be made apparent.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1