By Susan Westemeyer
As part of its anti-doping campaign, the German Cycling Federation (BDR) wanted to establish blood profiles for all German cyclists; but so far not a single male professional rider has appeared to take the test, BDR President Rudolf Scharping has confirmed.
The riders to be tested include not only the male professionals, but also male and female juniors and U23 (road, track and mountain bike), many of whom have already appeared for testing.
"We assume that teams like T-Mobile or Gerolsteiner will totally climb into this program. It also applies to riders who are under contract to foreign teams," Scharping said to t-online.de. He added that a meeting was planned for the beginning of March with team doctors. Participation in "Operation Blood Volume" is a necessary requirement for riders who want to represent German in world championships or the Olympic Games, Scharping noted.
The BDR expects to test about 200 cyclists a year at the University Clinic in Freiburg. "There won't be any more riders like Jan Ullrich" who receive all their training plans and medical care from outside of their team," said BRD sport director Burckhard Bremer. Every rider is to undergo blood testing three to four times a year, in order to track possible changes in the blood profile, Bremer noted.
