Dane takes a bemused look at controversial mid-race doping control in Gent
The consternation of mid-race doping controls at last night’s Gent Six is beginning to subside, but Michael Morkov, half of the Danish super pairing of Rasmussen/Morkov, wrote a little more calmly than a clearly annoyed Iljo Keisse spoke following the surprise testing.
Morkov, who was not altogether excited about the testing, takes a little more lighthearted look at it, but still notes on the pair’s blog, parnr7.dk, that it was a very uncomfortable experience.
“For my part, I had a very special evening. The doping controllers appeared just as the evening’s first race began. They claimed to want the first possible urine, which therefore meant that it was not possible to pee before the race.”
This might seem a bit farcical, but typically, riders have to go just a little bit before the racing begins, but if Morkov were to have done that, he would not have had enough for a full sample then, or, he would not have had enough for the sample for the later time, which resulted in the talented Dane waiting. Unfortunately, there was not enough time built into the evening’s schedule for a surprise doping control.
“I had to hold myself entirely until the evening’s first ten minute break, and then there was not enough time in the program to leave the track area and find a separate toilet. I was forced to provide a urine sample in the little cabin we have in the track center. That’s the first time I’ve done a doping control in front of 6,000 people… (Not to create a false picture, there is a curtain in front of the little cabin)”
The story Morkov tells is not what the doctor responsible for the controls indicated, which was that the riders were informed of the testing and could either give a sample early on, or wait until after the night’s racing concluded…at two in the morning.
Iljo Keisse, who was very outspoken about the matter after the evening’s racing to Sporza, likened the mid-race testing to setting up a doping control in the feedzone of a road race. The rider, who was just allowed to return to racing following a positive test for two substances at the 2008 Gent Six, did not offer a mid-race sample.
“I gave my sample after the race, that has been the custom for many years,” said the QuickStep rider to Sporza.
While only a small blip on the radar of the anti-doping movement, it seems that mid-race doping controls might not be ideal, unless there is a way to allow for riders to submit to the testing during the race without great pressure due to the scheduling of the numerous races that make up an evening of a six day.