Former cyclo-cross world champion, and pre-race favourite for this weekend’s Worlds, Mathieu van der Poel has said that anti-doping controls should be made public by riders. The comments come after Kevin Pauwels posted his doping control form on Twitter earlier this week, swiftly followed by Van der Poel himself.
Following their decision, calls came for reigning world champion Wout van Aert to publish his anti-doping controls, but the Belgian said in a press conference ahead of the World Champions that he would not be doing the same as his two competitors. Van der Poel respected the choice of Van Aert but said that publishing the documents would help with the sport’s transparency, although there is nothing to say that a rider must do it.
“So it was for myself; it was not meant to provoke Wout van Aert,” Van der Poel said at his pre-Worlds press conference, according to Het Nieuwsblad. “He is also perfectly entitled not to do so. Just because you do not make something public, it does not mean that you have something to hide. It is his privacy. But perhaps it is good that we do all this publicly in the future. For me, each test should be put online. There needs to be more transparency, and it could be a pivotal moment in the sport.”
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Riders are required to declare the use of any medication or supplements on the forms supplied when visited by doping control officers. Van der Poel’s anti-doping control form showed that he had been using multivitamins and beetroot juice. Any TUEs must also be declared by the rider. On that subject, Van der Poel was very direct, saying that they are open to misuse and the rules around them should be stricter.
"I'm not saying that nothing should be allowed, but it is unfortunately misused in many ways,” said Van der Poel. “If you're struggling with something, then the best thing to do is to rest. TUEs can naturally be used, but it is not the healthy way. It also seems a good idea to then stay a month on the sidelines instead of the current line of ten days. If it's the only way to ride a World Cup ...?
“Maybe you are doing nothing wrong, but I would not personally do it secretly but at a press conference with a doctor immediately. But again, it’s not healthy.”
— Mathieu Van der Poel (@mathieuvdpoel) January 23, 2017
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