Tour set for record dope-testing program

More doping tests will be carried out for next month's Tour de France than any previous sporting event, UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Wednesday.

More than 500 tests will be conducted in the weeks leading up to the Tour and during the three-week race, which starts on July 4th.

McQuaid, who heads the ruling International Cycling Union, said: "From the numbers of tests, in my opinion, it will be the most tested event in the history of sports. It's enormous."

McQuaid was speaking during a news conference with the French antidoping agency (AFLD) head, Pierre Bordry. The UCI and the AFLD will work together on the Tour, having already collaborated at the beginning of the season during the Paris-Nice race.

A group of 50 targeted riders, considered as the race favorites or whose biological passport data have raised suspicion, will be under further scrutiny.

"What's important, is not the number of tests but the fact that we target riders", Bordry said.

Riders will also be tested before the race while training. During the Tour, testers will be able to detect the blood-boosting hormone CERA, and insulin, UCI doctor Mario Zorzoli said.

"Many samples taken in the Tour will be stored for future analysis," McQuaid said, in case riders used substances that could only be detected in the future.

Two days before the race, all riders will give two blood samples that will be tested and stored. "Then between eight and 11 riders will be tested every day on the basis of their sporting results but also on the basis of our targeting policy", Zorzoli said.

After each stage, some riders will also be picked at random for checks.

Last year's Tour de France was marred by a string of doping affairs. Six riders tested positive during the race or in retroactive checks ordered by the AFLD.

Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl, who retired after admitting he had used CERA, was one of them and has criticized the efficiency of the biological passport.

"I've invited him to come and see us at the UCI headquarters in Aigle", McQuaid said. "If he has information to share with us, he is welcome. But when he comes, we will show him his biological passport and I'm sure his opinion will change afterward."

McQuaid also announced the start of disciplinary proceedings against a "certain number of riders" based on suspicious data on their biological passport.

He declined to name the riders but pledged to do so early next week, once the riders, their teams and national federations have been informed. He said that none of the cyclists would get a provisional suspension and it would be "up to the teams" and federations to take action.

The biological passport has been used to monitor more than 850 professional riders since it was created with the World Anti-Doping Agency and launched in January 2008.

Each rider has given a series of blood and urine samples, which helped to create an individual body chemistry profile using analysis designed by a WADA-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Suspected doping offenses are then spotted in fluctuations from the athlete's known baseline levels _ in effect, searching for the evidence of doping rather than specific illegal substances.

However, the UCI has hesitated in bringing a disciplinary case based solely on passport evidence because of fears the entire process could be challenged in court.