The Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation announces anti-doping measures for 2017 Tour de France
June 30, 2017The Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD) and the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to define and carry out the fight against doping in cycling, confirmed today that they will continue their close collaboration on anti-doping controls during the 2017 Tour De France, which begins on Saturday 1st July in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The agreement covering the Tour de France, is part of the cooperation agreement between the UCI on the one hand, represented by the CADF, and the AFLD on the other, which aims to ensure efficient anti-doping controls at all the major cycling competitions in France. Regarding anti-doping controls for the Tour de France 2017, a comprehensive approach will prevail to maximise the efficiency of the control system, including targeted controls at the start of the competition – in particular through data exchange regarding the localisation of the riders – as well as the sharing of information concerning the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), the individual electronic file for each rider that contains the results of all the anti-doping tests carried out as part of this programme over a certain period. Several control measures already in place in recent editions will be renewed, such as:
- The AFLD has again carried out controls this year on a number of cyclists who will most likely participate in the “Grande Boucle”;
- Shortly before the start of the race, blood checks have been carried out on all participants;
- During the stages in France, the decision regarding which cyclists to test will be jointly made by the CADF and the AFLD, on the basis of shared information, in order to have a well-targeted approach towards the riders;
- Based on intelligence gathering, some samples will be kept, up to 10 years, in order to allow subsequent analyses with the benefit of technical progress concerning detection methods.
- The cooperation agreement between the CADF, AFLD, and the Central office for combatting damage to the environment and public (OCLAESP) has also been renewed. The agreement will allow the collection of supplementary information that will improve the quality of testing throughout the race.