Tour de France race organiser Christian Prudhomme knows that there are no guarantees, but he is feeling confident that the current measures in place mean that the 2010 Tour de France should be a very clean event.
“I am convinced that there is a real breakthrough,” he told AFP. “Controls, the biological passport, sanctions... Those who cheat can be convicted of doping by conventional radar at the roadside [standard doping tests] or by the biological passport. Without it being a 100 percent guarantee, it is definitely a bonus compared with what there was before.”
The Frenchman said that the same number of tests would be carried out as was the case in 2009, but that there will be an additional measure which should increase confidence in the outcome. “The controls on the Tour will be organized by the International Federation [the UCI],” he said. “But a new thing is that there will be observers from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which is the benchmark in the sports world, the supreme body. It is a guarantee of transparency.
“Ethics remain a prerequisite. Real progress has been made, initiated by Roselyne Bachelot [the French minister for Health and Sports] and the biological passport established by the UCI. Today there are other federations doing the same - it exists in speed skating, cross country skiing, one would think in football. WADA has all the locations [the whereabouts system], it can target, make preventive controls, control people before the Tour, and for us that is something essential.”
In contrast to 2008, when the testing was carried out by the AFLD and the biological passport was not fully in place, there were eight positives at the Tour. Last year, there were none, although stage 16 winner Mikel Astarloza was disqualified after it was announced he had failed a pre-race control.
Prudhomme will hope for the same clear results. This time round, with WADA acting as an observer and the AFLD able to request the UCI to target-test riders, it can be argued that the highest-ever level of scrutiny will be placed on the event. If the results are clear, it will be a very good sign for cycling.
The Tour will however be marked by the return of several riders who have brought negative headlines to the event in the past. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) was disqualified after winning two stages in 2007, having tested positive for a blood transfusion. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) was prevented from starting the race one year earlier due to his links to Operación Puerto.
Prudhomme was asked if their return was a step backwards for the event, but he said that he had no objections as the sanctions had been completed.
“The riders who are returning have served their penalty. In fact, they have been absent even longer before returning to the Tour de France,” he said, referring to the fact that neither rider has competed in the race since. “They cheated, they were punished, they come back, I hope they understand. When someone is punished, should we do things differently in cycling than what is required in life in general?”
Expects exciting racing:
The Tour director has been at the helm for several years and there is a sense that he believes this could be the most exciting clash yet. Defending champion Alberto Contador defeated seven-time winner Lance Armstrong last year and so the 2010 race is being billed as round two, the big decider. Prudhomme outlines how things stand four days before the race starts.
“[There is] a favorite, Alberto Contador, but many challengers rather harmoniously divided into different teams,” he said. “For the first time in cycling, last winter there was a transfer window a bit like football. There is Contador, but also Armstrong, the Schleck brothers, Evans, a strong Liquigas team around Basso, Wiggins in the new Sky team. In short, a group of contenders in different teams and [many] attack strategies. The course has been designed so that things can happen practically from the first stage onwards.”
If so, that will make this year’s event all the more gripping. In the past the first week was the stomping ground of the sprinters, but the climbs and cobbles of stages two and three will certainly spice things up and ensure the general classification contenders have to be in form and fully attentive from the very start.