On the eve of the start of what some say is one of the hardest-ever editions of the Giro d’Italia, the UCI has introduced a new measure, entitled No Needle Policy, which it hopes will reduce the likelihood of doping amongst the professional ranks.
As was anticipated earlier this year, the governing body has decided to prohibit any injections taking place without medical necessity. This deals with a wide range of substances, many of which are not in themselves banned. It builds on a ban introduced several years ago on the infusion of saline.
While some teams such as Garmin-Cervélo have said that they have avoided the use of needles for years, many other teams will have used them as part of their day to day maintenance of riders. As long as doping products were not used, this was legal; now, in a bid to change the culture of the needle, it is banned.
“This initiative, called the No Needle Policy, gives concrete expression to the UCI's desire to protect the riders' health, maintain equality of opportunity and fight against doping,” it said in a statement.
“The UCI Regulations now prohibit injections of medicines or other substances, without a medical indication, that have the objective of artificially improving performance or recovery (vitamins, sugars, enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants, etc.). This measure is above all designed to protect the riders' health and contribute to eradicating doping by restricting a practice that is all too often abused.”
In listing the aims, the UCI stated a number of goals. It said that it wanted to eliminated perfusion and injections as it is a gateway to doping; that it wanted to emphasise natural recovery by avoiding automatic use of injections; and that it wanted to ensure that doctors were not put under pressure by riders or others to carry out unjustified treatment. It reminded them of point 6.3 of the Olympic Movement Medical Code, which states that "athletes’ health care providers (…) must refrain from performing any intervention that is not medically indicated, even at the request of the athletes, their entourage or another health care provider (…).”
Another additional benefit is that it would prevent any teams from passing off banned substances as vitamin injections. This is known to have occurred in the past.
McQuaid spoke about the initiative in March, telling L’Equipe that the UCI wanted to banish what he referred to as the culture of the syringe.
“We remember the syringes found in hotel rooms, and you know how much that contributes to tarnish the image of the sport,” he said.
The UCI said that the new measure came about as a result of discussions started in November 2010, and of collaboration with the International Federation of Rowing Associations (FISA). The details were outlined to team doctors on March 4th, the eve of the start of Paris-Nice, and so they have had two months advance notice of the new rules.
Those who break the regulations will face sanctions, be they rider, team doctor or team.
The new rules join with previously introduced measures such as the biological passport. This monitors body parameters such as blood values, seeking to identify doping via indirect measurement.