Sport cycling race in Spain
Doping controls at the finish – 130 drivers give up early
As of: 4:32 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
At an amateur race in Spain, doping controllers were waiting for the participants at the finish. Of the 182 cyclists who started, 130 gave up during the race and forgot to cross the finish line.
The number of race cancellations increased miraculously. More and more participants in an amateur cycling race in Spain decided not to reach the finish line in Villena in the province of Alicante. But it was not fitness problems or muscle injuries that caused the riders to get off their bikes.
It was probably the unannounced doping controls, which the drivers apparently found out about during the race, that led to the numerous tasks. According to a report by the “Ciclo21” portal, only 52 of the 182 riders who started reached the finish in Villena. In previous years it was usually half of the drivers. This year, however, not even 30 percent of those who started crossed the finish line. Probably because the doping controllers were waiting behind her. Participants related the mass tasks to the random checks.
“Anti-doping controls in Villena lead to mishaps and abandonments. This is not a mathematical formula, but reality. I hope the measures work because this is a damn joke,” said eighth-placed Alvaro Marza. According to his own information, he tested negative.
“Doping has no place in our sport”
The organizer published a statement in which he explained the doping controls by saying that they were subject to the rules of the world association UCI. “We want to send a clear message to all cyclists and fans: doping has no place in our sport. We support cyclists who are fair and honest,” the statement said.