December 27, 2007

Drug testing passport


The professional bike racers biological passports should be ready for the 2008 season.

The passport is an individual electronic record for each rider in which the results of all blood and urine testing is collated over a period of time. It will also have results of each individual urine and blood test with markers for blood and steroid parameters.

The UCI will increase the number of test in 2008. Each rider will be subjected to 6 or 12 test depending on what article you read. In order to carry out the testing in the right conditions the UCI will have to be informed of the whereabouts and training schedule of EACH RIDER. (HHMMM....I hope Robobank and Micheal Rassmuson are reading up on this!)

After all the test have been compiled a panel of seven experts will decipher the possible variations of each riders haematological levels.

Of course this is going to cost a LOT of money but the UCI, Teams, Riders, WADA and the French Ministry of Sport are all helping to offset the cost.

I hope this works. Some people have their doubts also. The one thing is that I hope they have security in place to keep people from tampering with the passports. To me it sounds like a nightmare trying to keep track of every ones whereabouts and training rides. This coming from people that can not run a lab correctly...was that my outside voice?....SORRY.....Yes I still think Floyd Landis was innocent!

It will be interesting to sit back and watch!

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