Tour de France antidoping controls all negative

The International Cycling Union's anti-doping commission has announced that all urine and blood samples collected during the 2005 Tour de France, except for one sample containing pseudoephedrine and norpseudoephedrine, returned only negative results regarding doping products and forbidden methods.

In-depth investigations of the sample containing the two aforementioned substances determined that the presence of norpseudoephedrine in small quantities can result from the taking of pseudoephedrine, an authorised product, in a greater quantity. After obtaining the opinion of three world-recognised scientific experts, the UCI anti-doping commission has decided to file the case.

Moreover, the UCI anti-doping commission has proceeded to the control of all usual therapeutic use exemptions (TUE). All riders who resorted to medical treatments have produced TUE's, in accordance with requirements imposed by the UCI anti-doping regulations.

In terms of numbers, 164 anti-doping controls were carried out during the 2005 Tour de France, made up of 143 urine samples and 21 blood samples. At the request of the UCI anti-doping commission, in collaboration with the French Sports Ministry, the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory also searched for EPO in blood transfusions and synthetic haemoglobin.