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Doping still widespread in professional cycling, says CIRC report

Cheats likely to be micro-dosing without team knowledge; UCI helped protect and defend Lance Armstrong

Doping remains widespread within professional cycling, but with smaller gains in performance than at the height of the EPO era, and most likely done by riders acting without the knowledge of their teams. That’s one of the chief conclusions of the report of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC), published today, which also says the UCI “defended” and “protected” Lance Armstrong and gave the disgraced cyclist preferential treatment, despite “strong reason to suspect” he was cheating.

The 227-page report follows a 13-month investigation costing £3 million paid for by the UCI, whose current president Brian Cookson established the commission early last year in a bid to establish how the culture of doping came to permeate the sport, and what improvements can be made to help win the war against the drug cheats.

The three members of the commission –Swiss former state prosecutor Dick Marty, German anti-doping expert Ulrich Haas and Australian former army officer and criminal investigator Peter Nicholson – examined internal UCI documents and also conducted 174 interviews as part of their enquiry.

Armstrong, plus former UCI presidents Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen were among those to appear before the panel, which returned a damning verdict on the governing body’s leadership during the time he was racing.

UCI gave preferential treatment to Lance Armstrong

The report says that the UCI’s leadership was aware in the late 1990s that the sport was “infested” with EPO and seized upon Armstrong, the cancer survivor who won the first of seven successive editions of the Tour de France in 1999, “as the perfect choice to lead the sport’s renaissance after the Festina scandal” the previous year.

It gives examples of preferential treatment favouring the American, ranging from the acceptance of a backdated therapeutic use exemption (TUE) when he tested positive for a corticosteroid during the 1999 Tour, to letting him race at the 2009 Tour Down Under on his comeback in 2009, even though he had not been in the testing pool for the required time.

But the panel determined that donations totalling $125,000 made by the rider to the UCI were not undertaken in connection with the governing body agreeing to cover up his doping, as former team mate Floyd Landis had alleged.

They were highly critical though of the UCI's attempts to derail the 2012 investigation of Armstrong by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that led to him being banned from sport for life and stripped of results including those seven Tour de France wins.

It also says that until between six and eight years ago, the organisation’s own actions “served to undermine anti-doping efforts” and that “the governance failures and specific actions of [the] UCI’s presidents/management seriously undermined UCI’s credibility.”

Today's drug cheats turn to micro-dosing ...

The report acknowledges that the situation appears to have improved with regard to the extent of doping in the sport compared to the late 1990s. But it says there is a belief that riders who are cheating have adapted to the athlete biological passport programme, and are micro-dosing with EPO.

While that gives smaller gains in performance than those achieved at the height of the EPO era - between 3 and 5 per cent now, compared to 10 to 15 per cent previously - but allowing them to keep their blood profile within parameters that enable them to avoid detection.

At the same time, the report notes that those smaller potential gains through cheating do give encouragement to riders who are clean that they are able to win races without resorting to doping.

"This has had a significant impact on the doping landscape today because by reducing the performance gains, riders will start to believe that they can have a career riding clean," said the report, which described it as "a key development in the fight against doping."

... but away from the eyes of their teams

The report adds: "Today the situation in cycling is likely still changing, and, certainly, it has become more opaque as riders have now been forced to dope 'underground'."

In contrast to the widespread organised doping of previous years,"A common response ... when asked about teams, was that probably 3 or 4 were clean, 3 or 4 were doping, and the rest were a 'don’t know'."

It added: "A number of top riders, and others in the sport, discussed other rider’s top performances, or changes in appearance due to dramatic weight loss, and were unable to explain how they were achieved."

But the commission said riders who do cheat are now likely to be using performance enhancing drugs under their own initiative, with the help of doctors outside their teams.

It outlined a number of reasons why doping could still be prevalent. Those include the pressure to get results and keep sponsors happy and ensure contract extensions, plus the fact riders regularly train away from team supervision and may employ their own doctors.

Other potential factors include the presence in team management of people who rode in an era when doping was endemic, and a continued reluctance to flag up suspicions of doping.

Night testing and encouraging whistleblowing among recommendations

Recommendations to the UCI were grouped under four headings – legislative framework, operational, governance and changes to the sport.

They include that the UCI co-operate more closely with governments and national anti-doping agencies, that testing patterns should be less predictable – including at night – and whistleblowing encouraged, that the UCI’s electoral process be overhauled and greater accountability put in place, and that there should be greater financial stability for teams and riders.

Former riders interviewed by the CIRC included a number now in management roles at WorldTour teams, such as Tinkoff-Saxo’s Bjarne Riis, Jonathan Vaughters of Cannondale-Garmin, and Astana’s Alexander Vinokourov.

Besides Armstrong, other riders who consented to have their names published included Britons Nicole Cooke and Chris Froome, the latter the only current athlete listed, plus Tyler Hamilton, Michael Rasmussen and Riccardo Riccò.

Others appearing before the commission included representatives of anti-doping organisations and a variety of sporting governing bodies including the UCI itself – Cookson and predecessors Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen were all interviewed – plus sponsors, race organisers, and journalists including David Walsh.

Cookson reaffirms commitment to reform

UCI president Cookson, who had said ahead of the report’s publication that it would prove “uncomfortable reading,” maintained that it demonstrated poor leadership of the governing body on the part of his predecessors, outlining some of their shortcomings.

He said: “It is clear from reading this report that in the past the UCI suffered severely from a lack of good governance with individuals taking crucial decisions alone, many of which undermined anti-doping efforts; put itself in an extraordinary position of proximity to certain riders; and wasted a lot of its time and resources in open conflict with organisations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

“It is also clear that the UCI leadership interfered in operational decisions on anti-doping matters and these factors, as well as many more covered in the report, served to erode confidence in the UCI and the sport.”

He added: “I am absolutely determined to use the CIRC’s report to ensure that cycling continues the process of fully regaining the trust of fans, broadcasters and all the riders that compete clean.

“I committed to this process before I was elected president and I'm pleased to see the CIRC complete its work. I shall be giving some more detail on how we will implement recommendations from the report during the course of this week.”

USADA boss Tygart laments "tragic loss" for clean cyclists

Among the first to react to publication of the report was USADA CEO Travis Tygart, who led the investigation that brought down Armstrong, which set in motion the chain of events that resulted in Cookson successfully challenging McQuaid for the UCI presidency.

In a statement, Tygart said he welcomed the report, which he said “confirms that, for more than a decade, UCI leaders treated riders and teams unequally – allowing some to be above the rules. The UCI’s favouritism and intentional failure to enforce the anti-doping rules offends the principles of fair play and is contrary to the values on which true sport is based.

“Sadly, the report confirms that greed, power, and profit – not truth – motivated UCI leaders and allowed the ‘EPO’ and ‘blood doping’ era to ride rampant. This is a tragic loss for all cyclists who sought to compete clean during that era, and their loss can never be forgotten.”

He went on: “As noted by the CIRC report, under President Cookson’s leadership the UCI is engaged in promising reforms of its anti-doping operations. We are encouraged by President Cookson’s commitment to strong partnerships with independent national anti-doping organisations whose only mission is to ensure a level playing field for all athletes.

“The clear message of the CIRC Report is what we have always said – sport cannot effectively both promote and police itself, without the support of independent anti-doping organizations. As the past story of the UCI demonstrates the race for power and profit by sport leaders can overrun integrity, fair play, and the rights of clean athletes.”

Tygart added: “USADA has been working closely with the UCI this year to implement a series of reforms that we believe hold promise for the future of clean cycling.

“Ultimately, the success of cycling’s transformation will be measured by how successfully the UCI implements these reforms to bring about new accountability, independence and transparency into its processes. 

“The CIRC Report is a strong first step in moving past the failures of the past, and USADA remains committed to working with the UCI to bring about a brighter future for clean cycling.”

You can download the full report below.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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28 comments

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kevinmorice | 9 years ago
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I still don't understand why no-one is pursuing the doctors and drug companies that are breaking the law in creating and supplying these products to people with no medical need for them. None of the riders is going to be able to access them, certainly not in a way that allows them to accurately control their levels within the passport criteria without expert supervision. Those doctors should be getting struck off for malpractice and their drug suppliers should be prosecuted under existing drug dealing legislation.

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daddyELVIS | 9 years ago
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Road.cc, you've missed one of the most interesting passages about current doping - not sure why  3 . I'll help you - here it is:

"Corticoids are widely used today both to reduce pain and therefore improve endurance capability and to achieve weight loss to improve power / weight ratio.......One doctor stated that it was impossible to lose the weight that some riders achieve without assistance, and that the TUE is taken advantage of to enable this practice. He stated that riders use corticoids to 'lean out' i.e. to lose weight quickly and keep it off, without losing power. By way of example he explained that to lose 4kg in 4 weeks by using corticoids would provide a 7% power / weight improvement. He added that when used in large quantities and in conjunction with other substances, they supported performance gains. Another doctor stated that some quite recent big wins on the UCI World Tour were as a result, in part, of some members of the team all using corticoids to get their weight down to support the individual who won (who also used the same weight-loss technique). It was reported that this had been a planned approach by that group's management."

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themartincox | 9 years ago
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I seem to remember the average worldtour wage being what? 30k per year?

Championship (2nd div) footballers are getting paid that on a weekly basis. Rooney et all are on 10+ million per year.

But there's no doping problem in football eh?

Could you for just 1 second imagine the absolute storm that would erupt if that ever managed to find its way to the media....

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mtm_01 | 9 years ago
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We’ve not learnt too much new here but the value is having it in a signed off UCI report, we’ve moved from accepted gossip to fact.

What we have had confirmed is the modern peloton still has doping tricks up its sleeve. The MPCC cortisone ruling is a sensible one and should be enforced at a UCI level because it’s easy to enforce and removes doubt in those races. It’s probably unfair to turn up in the middle of the night like the Gestapo for testing, so I can’t see a way around that other than that micro-dosers can be stupid and get caught (Tyler Hamilton was caught this way if I remember his book correctly).

TUE exemptions could also do with being more rigorous in order to remove doubts, maybe along the lines of the MPCC ruling for cortisone – thinking of the Chris Froome one here.

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birzzles | 9 years ago
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How about a dose of reality. The Russian will always cheat, as will the Chinese. All governing bodies where there is no chance of changing the leadership are corrupt. This applies to all the ones you can think of - e.g. F1 and Football, and all the ones you can't.

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mrmo replied to birzzles | 9 years ago
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birzzles wrote:

How about a dose of reality. The Russian will always cheat, as will the Chinese. All governing bodies where there is no chance of changing the leadership are corrupt. This applies to all the ones you can think of - e.g. F1 and Football, and all the ones you can't.

And the US?

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Must be Mad | 9 years ago
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Quote:

David Millar has a real dig about this in the Torygraph today, well worth reading.

hmmmm

Quote:

I wish I'd given evidence as the CIRC's report into the culture of drug-taking bears little resemblance to the state and mood of the modern peloton

Its a little like not voting, and then complaining about government

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SirCav | 9 years ago
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Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen have no place in cycling.

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crikey | 9 years ago
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They're not taking cortisone because it tastes nice...
Anti inflammatory effects, mental effects, metabolic effects etc..

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Beefy | 9 years ago
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Cortisone? WTF can this really provide an enhanced performance? Or are people taking some drugs simply in the hope it will help? apart from damaging connective tissue in injection form as per 1970-80s footballers who can't walk any more and reducing pain from saddle sores why would any one take it?

I get how EPO and anabolics would give an edge but what next rubbing Vics on your balls to get out the saddle quicker.

Great report, I think cycling has the real chance to be cleaner than most other insurance sports, I wonder if it is already. I suspect the other big money sports are rife as so much cash involved, ( rugby football NFL)

Well done Cookson

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TheFatAndTheFurious replied to Beefy | 9 years ago
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Beefy wrote:

Cortisone? WTF can this really provide an enhanced performance? //snip// why would any one take it?

David Millar described the effects in detail. It is a catabolic drug - "a powerful drug that consumed the body", he says. It gives rapid weight loss.

When going uphill, the energy that would have gone into moving that mass upwards is now moving the remaining mass forwards.

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zanf replied to Beefy | 9 years ago
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Beefy wrote:

but what next rubbing Vics on your balls....

Have you been reading Trainspotting, and the bit about Spud's exploits?

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Bigfoz | 9 years ago
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Hmmm. I wonder how accurate the picture is of current state? Only 1 named current pro rider, all the other names (Bar Nicole Cooke) are ex-dopers. So easy to say it's still going on to make yourself look better. David Millar has a real dig about this in the Torygraph today, well worth reading.

I suspect the situation now is that isolated eejits still microdose etc, and there may be isolated pockets in teams with poor histories. But the majority of people are clean, and this is seen in the fluctuations in good / bad days in the tours. No-one rides 21 good days ina tour anymore.

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tomturcan | 9 years ago
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Still a long way to go to a destination that may be beyond reach.

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WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
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Spoke to someone yesterday who is involved in dope testing in the UK. He was adamant that it was rife still in cycling right down to amateur levels such as TLI. It may not be epo at that level but with middle aged men using steroids, cortisone and speed to take part in piddly regional amateur races Iim resigned to just training for my own fitness these days.  2

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ianrobo replied to WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
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MercuryOne wrote:

Spoke to someone yesterday who is involved in dope testing in the UK. He was adamant that it was rife still in cycling right down to amateur levels such as TLI. It may not be epo at that level but with middle aged men using steroids, cortisone and speed to take part in piddly regional amateur races Iim resigned to just training for my own fitness these days.  2

ask him about other sports and especially football and tennis where EPO will be valuable to them and they had more cash to win/lose over it.

Cycling is no innocent in this but of course many more are guilty of doping than cycling.

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antonio | 9 years ago
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Lots of stuff here to encourage Seb Coe's efforts to clean up the Olympics.

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Beaufort | 9 years ago
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Sad but not a hugely surprising set of findings. There will always be questions regarding the validity of performance in pro-cycling.

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andyp | 9 years ago
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Tells us nothing we didn't already know, as expected.

Very nice quote on the BBC this morning.

"The report should be studied by every sport, because while cycling is still clearly in a critical condition, it at least knows it is ill"

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Aapje replied to andyp | 9 years ago
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andyp wrote:

Tells us nothing we didn't already know, as expected.

It's still very important for the UCI to do this, simply to get all their employees out of the 'denial' mindset.

It's very easy for sports organisations to feel that 'it's not about us,' even for investigations like the Armstrong report. In that report the UCI behavior was more of a side matter and that makes it much easier to ignore or to see it as relatively insignificant. Reports like these are a sledgehammer that wake up those who still have the old mindset.

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marche | 9 years ago
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FullGas | 9 years ago
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The pro peloton still dopes and I couldn't care less. Now those strava dopers are the ones who really piss me off.

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Kadinkski | 9 years ago
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Ironically, one of the few people to come out of that report with any credit is Lance Armstrong!

Anyway, cycling as a professional sport is dead to me, has been for some time - I don't even watch it at the olympics anymore.

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mrmo replied to Kadinkski | 9 years ago
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Kadinkski wrote:

Anyway, cycling as a professional sport is dead to me, has been for some time - I don't even watch it at the olympics anymore.

that is your right, but I would caution all pro sport is entertainment, and they all have drug problems. Don't assume cycling is worse than anyother, cycling has choosen/been choosen, to-be/as the fall guy.

So things are better, not perfect, but that was never going to be the case. Next step is to look at why people dope, and reading the article, the team structure, that constant hunt for a new contract doesn't help.

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Airzound replied to mrmo | 9 years ago
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mrmo wrote:
Kadinkski wrote:

Anyway, cycling as a professional sport is dead to me, has been for some time - I don't even watch it at the olympics anymore.

that is your right, but I would caution all pro sport is entertainment, and they all have drug problems. Don't assume cycling is worse than anyother, cycling has choosen/been choosen, to-be/as the fall guy.

So things are better, not perfect, but that was never going to be the case. Next step is to look at why people dope, and reading the article, the team structure, that constant hunt for a new contract doesn't help.

Errr ……… people or riders dope to win, to get more money, to win sportives?

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Aapje replied to Kadinkski | 9 years ago
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Kadinkski wrote:

Anyway, cycling as a professional sport is dead to me, has been for some time - I don't even watch it at the olympics anymore.

The Olympics are a doping haven in general though. They are one of the clearest examples of event organizers caring about appearances, rather than actually fighting doping. A good example is how they ignored the lack of testing in Jamaica, despite all the questions being asked. Then after WADA got on it and managed to nab a large number of Jamaicans, they refused to do retrospective testing of the Jamaican samples taken at the earlier Olympics.

It's also pretty clear that there was government doping when the Olympics were in China as well as cheating with ages in gymnastics. The IOC didn't care as long as they got their money.

The IOC is basically at the same level the UCI was 10 years ago: never be proactive, just reactive and do the minimum to just catch the biggest morons.

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Gweeds | 9 years ago
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McQuaid. Verbruggen. Get in the bin.

You self-serving, arrogant wankers.

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