Teams warn of ‘mafia’ doping controls, want more blood tests

PARIS: Cycling teams have demanded an increase in out of competition blood tests, insisting Wednesday that they fear the “existence of mafia doping protocols outside of the teams´ structures”.

The Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) said they have based their demands on testimony made by Austria´s Georg Preidler who was ensnared in ´Operation Aderlass´.

The ´Aderlass´ scandal initially erupted in February when authorities raided the Nordic skiing world championships in Austria.

Now, the MPCC says it is taking its concerns to the UCI, the sport´s international governing body.

“MPCC wanted to draw the UCI´s attention to the necessity to increase the number of blood tests, especially outside of competition,” the group said in a statement.

“This proposition relies on the information we gathered, which hints on the existence of mafia doping protocols outside of the teams´ structures.”

“A formal request has been issued, aiming at running these tests closer to the start of the race and as soon as possible after the finish,” it added.

Preidler is a former rider for Groupama-FDJ and Sunweb.

He quit after getting caught up in Aderlass — the doping sting operation which takes its name from the German word for ´bloodletting´.

The MPCC said they retained full confidence in the UCI but highlighted that no riders implicated in Aderlass had ever tested positive.

They were instead caught as part of a judicial operation.

“These unfortunate revelations came from the police´s hard work only,” said a statement.