Few riders support drastic measures thus far
Mark Cavendish of the HTC-Columbia squad has indicated that he has no problems with night time doping controls. The British sprinter has repeatedly spoken out against doping and said in a recent interview that it is good news every time a cheat is caught.
Cavendish does not mind drastic measures, like the possibility of getting woken up in the middle of the night for an anti-doping control. “We have to do everything to eliminate doping in sports,” Cavendish aid according to
Radsport News. “Of course it would affect sleep and influence the competitions. But as long as everyone is treated the same way I would not have a problem with it.”
Many riders have spoken out against the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) proposal that targets detection of micro dosing of EPO and other substances. The successful Cavendish, winner of 15 stages of the Tour de France in just three years, did the opposite.
Another rider who has repeatedly stated that increased controls would be good for the sport is mountain bike Olympic Champion Sabine Spitz. She had suggested that riders could be tracked by their cell phones to make the Whereabouts program more effective.
The measures show that cycling is still on the forefront in the fight against doping, continuing to coming up with new ideas to get ahead of the cheats.
Jonathan Vaughters recently also said that he was in favor of the night time controls, whereas several Italian riders, including Vincenzo Nibali, Filippo Pozzato and Giovanni Visconti have rejected the idea.