Advance-Notice Drug Testing To Be Eliminated

Cycling’s world governing body, The UCI, have announced plans to eliminate advance-notice drug testing in a bid to enforce its anti-doping programme.

The news comes following a series of high profile cases, the most famous of which involved US cyclist Lance Armstrong.

An audit by the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO), which was carried out under the authority of new UCI president Brian Cookson, is understood to have acted as a catalyst for the move.

It is reported that as a result of the audit, a number of recommendations were made – of which nine were classified as “urgent”. The Telegraph outlined the audit as included training & accreditation of doping control personnel, doping control procedures and results management amongst other things.

The most profound advice was that advance-notice testing should be eliminated and that the governing body’s rules and procedures should be altered to align them with the revised World Anti-Doping Code.

It’s understood that the iNADO was happy with the biological passport programme and results management procedures.

In a UCI statement, Mr Cookson said: “I was pleased that the audit found that the biological passport programme is outstanding and that results management is excellent.

"The UCI will now make the necessary changes to policies, structures and procedures in order to further improve the programme and ensure compliance with the 2015 WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code."

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