Hopes that Ireland could stage the 2004 World Championships suffered a blow in recent days with the claim that Minister for Tourism and Sport Dr James McDaid would be unwilling to support such a bid. The disclosure, as reported by the Sunday Tribune, stems from the Minister's belief that cycling has offered no proof of having cleaned up its act since the 1998 Tour de France was rocked by a succession of doping scandals.
The news has been met with dismay by the Irish Cycling Federation, as financial support from the Government is essential for the event to go ahead in the autumn of 2004 in Killarney. Over £2 million in backing is needed to stage the event which would bring the world's top cyclists plus an estimated 100,000 spectators to these shores.
However, with the International Cycling Union (UCI) set to become the one of the first international sporting federations to introduce regular testing for EPO, beginning with Sunday's Tour of Flanders many in the sport feel aggrieved by Minister McDaid's assertion that nothing has changed in two and half years since the so-called `Festina Affair'. The new urine-based EPO testing, plus random blood screening and tests for perflurocarbon (PFC) and corticoids mean that cycling is among the most scrutinised of sports.
According to Nicki Vance, a director of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) which was founded in the wake of the 1998 Tour scandals, the UCI has made a genuine effort to address the drugs problem. "I think that they have acknowledged that there was a problem and they really are contributing an awful lot of resources, both in terms of the normal drug testing they do but also of course in the research field," she said yesterday. "The UCI president (Hein Verbruggen) is a member of the WADA board and works closely with us, in fact he is joining us next week for a session on ethics and education, plus a meeting the following day to look at the EPO issue. We are very pleased with what they have been doing in the past few years and we can only hope it will start to have a real impact on the cyclists."
Vance, who believes the new urine-based EPO test will have a significant dissuasive effect, feels that cycling is on the road towards addressing the drugs issue. "There is a way to go yet, but they have made good progress over the past few years," she states.
What hasn't helped the public image of the sport is the legacy of the 1998 Tour de France, namely the recently-heard Festina trial and also ongoing investigations into past cases. The stop-gap measure of suspending riders whose hematocrit (red blood cell level) was over 50 per cent has also led to negative publicity. But it is worth considering that while cycling grasped the nettle and attempted to curb the use of this product, other sports with known EPO problems such as athletics and swimming did little.
On those grounds, it seems unfair to welcome events such as the world cross country championships to these shores, yet dismiss the 2004 cycling initiative without real, informed debate.
Tour de France organisers unveiled a plan in Paris yesterday aimed at stamping out doping in the peloton this year and setting a precedent for the future.
The plan focuses on banning riders who are caught doping from the start of the race, maintaining vigilance throughout the three-week event, and promoting `clean' sports practice in the future.
Jean-Marie Leblanc, the president of the Tour de France company, claims that the pre-emptive strike, which will begin with riders submitting blood samples to be tested 48 hours before the Tour prologue, signals a major change that will help transform the peloton significantly.
