SOCOG Press Release
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – A new drug test to detect the banned hormone erythropoietin (EPO) planned for use during next month’s Tour de France has not been approved, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Thursday.
The UCI may now be forced to scrap plans to use the test developed by a French research laboratory after a three-member panel of experts failed to agree on its reliability.
Two of the experts said more study was needed before the test could be validated.
‘While they (the panel) acknowledge the value and the interest of the new procedure, which is a signifcant step in the detection of EPO, doctors Jordi Segura and Peter Hemmersbach asked for other aspects to be looked into for total evaluation of the method,’ said the UCI in a statement.
French cycling federation president Daniel Baal said: ‘The approval of such a method must be 1OO percent, not 90 percent. Today, unfortunately, it is a big disappointment, even though we knew the detection of EPO would not solve all our problems.’
‘But it was a big step forward and, for now, we’re not taking it,’ he added.
Tour de France boss Jean-Marie Leblanc said: ‘I’m both disappointed and full of hope – disappointed that the case is not settled once and for all and hopeful that the approval will take place before the Tour starts.’
Little hope
The UCI said it would consider the panel’s findings in the next few days but with the Tour set to start on July 1, there is now little hope a test will be ready in time.
‘The UCI takes into account the decision expressed today by these eminent specialists. It will examine in the next few days the implications of their decision and the remaining prospects for the test,’ added the statement.
Leblanc added: ‘If the validation should take place after the Tour, we do not rule out the possibility of keeping some samples and examining them retroactively after the Tour.’
The UCI had attempted to fast-track the test through a validation process that it admitted was far less stringent than International Olympic Committee requirements in order to have the procedure in place in time for the Tour.
A reliable test for EPO remains the top priority in the battle against performance enhancing drugs.
Hematocrite levels above 50 percent indicate that an athlete may be using EPO, a stamina-boosting drug which stimulates the production of oxygen rich red blood cells.
The substance is produced naturally in humans but can be fatal if it enters the body artificially.
The UCI has regularly carried out blood tests on riders, briefly suspending them from competition for 15 days, ‘for their own health’, if their hematocrite was found to be above normal levels.
While increased hematocrite levels are easily detected, there has been no reliable method of determining whether changes have occurred naturally or are due to the presence of EPO, which is suspected of contributing to the deaths of several riders.
Reuters