Cyclists hooked on dope

Doping in cycling remains widespread, with cheats exploiting grey areas, experimenting with designer drugs and becoming ever more sophisticated, according to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission, which published its report last night.

The 227-page document, commissioned by International Cycling Union president Brian Cookson, and compiled by the fully independent panel over 13 months at an estimated cost of £3-million, features one incredible claim from a "respected cycling professional" that 90% of the peloton is still doping in one form or another.

Although other riders reckon that figure is far lower, the commission found that a typical response among those who testified was that "probably three or four [riders per team] were clean, three or four were doping, and the rest 'don't know'".

The "biggest concern", the report says, is that riders are able to manipulate the Biological Passport - which monitors an athlete's blood levels - by micro-dosing; regularly using small amounts of banned substances to avoid spikes.

Riders are said to take advantage of the "no-testing-at-night" rule, with the report claiming many of them are "confident that they can take a micro-dose of [banned blood booster] EPO in the evening because it will not show up by the time the doping control officers could arrive to test at 6am."

But arguably the most shocking finding in the report is that many amateur cyclists, too, are turning to doping to boost performance.

These athletes may not be in it to win, but the report found that doping in amateur racing is becoming endemic.

It has got so bad that middle-aged businessmen are winning masters races on EPO (erythropoietin) "with some of them training as hard as professional riders and putting in comparable performances".

Amateur doping has also become a problem in the local cycling fraternity, believes the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport.

"Over the last six to eight years we have had consistent information about doping in amateur cycling and among tri-athletes," said Khalid Galant, CEO of the institute. "It is not about money, it is purely an ego thing."

It is all part of a package, he said, of cutting race times with expensive high-performance bikes, equipment and drugs.

Galant added that there was an incident in which a competitor in the Cape Epic had tested positive for illegal substances even though he had come in around 300th.

"They are not cheating for prize-money, they are cheating themselves. This is why we are adopting an educational approach," Galant said.