Cordero agrees with the biological passport

By Antonio J. Salmerón

Speaking from Paris, Victor Cordero, gave his opinion on the biological passports being proposed as the next anti-doping measure. "It seems [to be] the solution because the scientific community assures that it is more reliable and provides more measures than [anti-doping] methods used until now."

According to the EFE press agency, the director of the Vuelta a España considers the biological passports "the clearest opportunity to solve the problem of doping in cycling and show that it is a sport completely controlled. Everything is ready to implement the passport in January 2008. WADA and the UCI have to lay the groundwork for its implementation and the necessary regulatory measures."

The UCI and WADA will work together in the coming months to just that. They have proposed monitoring levels of certain blood and urine parameters for any sudden changes that may be due to the consumption of doping substances. "Changes in the levels will be monitored and tell us if there are cheats," explained Cordero.

He added that the passports should be used not just in cycling but in other sports, too, pointing out that their use should benefit riders like Floyd Landis and Roberto Heras, who have tested positive and left others wondering about the winner of the race for months afterward. Cordero defended the passports as a way to start from "kilometer zero because it allows us to work looking forward and without thinking in the past."