{"id":441107,"date":"2026-01-29T15:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441107\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:45:09","slug":"a-new-way-to-catch-dopers-is-being-trialled-but-pro-cyclists-union-is-100-against-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441107\/","title":{"rendered":"A new way to catch dopers is being trialled, but pro cyclists’ union is 100% against it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam Hansen, head of the professional riders’ union, says riders are \u201c100 per cent against\u201d the use of a \u201cpower data passport\u201d to catch dopers.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Domestique Hotseat podcast<\/a>, Hansen says that while the scheme is being trialled on a voluntary basis, he sees a slew of issues.<\/p>\n

These include the potential for power meters<\/a> and bike computers<\/a> to malfunction, or to simply run out of battery mid-ride, as well as the fact that riders’ training plans \u2013 and therefore the power they produce on a bike \u2013 will naturally vary substantially during a season.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Hansen has a bucket load of apparently unanswered questions about the scheme. He says: \u201cThis just adds to the extra stress for the athletes. To me, it\u2019s just getting too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new longitudinal performance-monitoring tool
\n\"SRAMAnti-doping authorities believe the data from power meters could help them target potential cheats. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

According to the sport\u2019s governing body, the UCI, the International Testing Agency (ITA) is \u201cdeveloping a new longitudinal performance monitoring tool based on power data from men professional road riders\u201d.<\/p>\n

The scheme was quietly announced a few days before the start of the 2025 Tour de France<\/a>, and has received limited attention until now.<\/p>\n

According to Hansen, the new power-based scheme will require athletes to \u201csubmit all their power data\u201d for the anti-doping authorities to scrutinise.<\/p>\n

Hansen says: \u201cIf they [the ITA] see things that are irregular then they\u2019ll do more target testing, or maybe in the future this could also mean a sanction.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hansen, this is where the problems arise because he says unanswered questions remain over what happens if riders don\u2019t submit their power data \u2013 whether intentionally or because of technical issues such as a bike computer that is broken, lost or simply runs out of battery mid-ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many factors where a rider just won\u2019t have his training [data], and if he can\u2019t submit it, is that a missed [doping] control? Because a missed control is very severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting too much\u201d
\n\"WahooHansen says the anti-doping authorities haven’t clarified what would happen in cases where riders’ bike computers fail or are lost. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Hansen says the proposed scheme is being trialled with four professional teams during the 2026 season, in addition to existing tools such as post-race anti-doping controls, the Whereabouts system and the athlete biological passport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just adds extra stress to the athletes. To me, it\u2019s just getting too much \u2013 and that\u2019s why you see these younger guys are just burning out. They can\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Extra stress aside, Hansen also says the proposed scheme is flawed because \u201cthere are so many variables\u201d that can affect a rider\u2019s power output from day to day.<\/p>\n

These include what training they\u2019ve been prescribed, or have done during previous days, how well they\u2019ve slept, whether they\u2019ve had caffeine before training, and so on.<\/p>\n

As for what he\u2019d like to see done to combat doping in professional cycling, Hansen says \u201cthey should improve the testing for banned substances\u201d because that would create less stress for the riders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adam Hansen, head of the professional riders’ union, says riders are \u201c100 per cent against\u201d the use of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-441107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}