Urine samples from the 2008 Tour de France will be re-examined by The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) according to comments made yesterday by the agency’s president Pierre Bordry.
Bordry told Reuters: “Before this year's Tour start in Monaco, we warned some 15 riders that in conformity with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, we would analyse retrospectively (the) samples taken in the 2008 Tour."
The procedure will target the third generation doping substance CERA, a form of EPO, and in previous testing four riders from the 2008 Tour de France were positive for EPO CERA - Bernard Kohl, Stefan Schumacher, Ricardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli.
“Our decision is based on a number of indications we obtained from various sources,” said Bordry, who did not name the riders whose samples will be re-tested. The new analyses are to be carried out after the summer.
The AFLD President also told Reuters that the re-testing is not related to the biological passport program of the International Cycling Union's (UCI).
Bordry's announcement comes after he told French newspaper Le Figaro that he believes new doping products may be in use in the peloton.
The AFLD and UCI worked in tandem to conduct doping controls at this year's Tour de France. And as of the final stage of racing, no rider in the 2009 Tour de France has tested positive for a banded substance.
The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
As i've said before, the police should be sued for a lot of money when someone they have knowingly ignored has gone on to commit a serious crime....
'Bad parking' blocks firefighters multiple times on same emergency call-out...
Cambridgeshire boy, 13, crashes Audi into garden wall after taking it from home...
Good stuff. Now do it on cycleway C9 through Hammersmith to Chiswick.
It's technically allowed but it's not known as "London's Orbital Car Park" for nothing.
You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
Used car salesman is a complete attention-seeking plank....
I don't know if they're any better, but they's certainly become more boring.
At risk of being cynical, and stereotyping the police, it's so they don't have to leave the comfort of their panda cars and pursue on foot when...