Volunteers scramble to chaperone Regio Tour doping controls

By Bjorn Haake in Gundelfingen

The UCI is trying everything it can to make doping controls as efficient as possible. But sometimes, a simple thing like not having enough volunteers can impede the anti-doping protocol, even in a UCI 2.1 race. In the fourth stage of the Regio Tour, a time trial, a lack of helpers left the chaperones running and sweating. The so-called chaperones are supposed to stay with riders from when they finish the race until the doping control.

Unlike in road stages, a time trial is worked differently. There are two ways a rider can get called upon by the chaperones. If the rider was selected randomly, they can be led to the doping control immediately after the finish.

Things get trickier with the ruling that the stage winner (or overall leader) is to be tested. It means when a rider comes in with a new best time he will have to be supervised until a different rider is faster. This is when the so-called hot seat comes into play. The potentially temporary number one rider will be seated in a chair on the podium until someone else is faster or the race is over. In the latter case they will get the podium kisses and ceremony, then be led away to the doping control.

When Grischa Niermann came in with a 17'59 and a new best time in the Regio Tour's stage 4, he still had a lot of speed. He turned right, heading downhill to the Rabobank bus and unlikely able to see the chaperones waiting at the barriers. So one of them had to sprint after Niermann for a good 300 metres. Niermann had already gone inside the bus to get some drinks.

With the bus door open, the chaperone was patiently waiting outside and explained that the situation wasn't abnormal. "You have to let them change at least. He will be placed on the hot seat after that." However, the chaperone started to get a little bit nervous for a different reason. "I am assigned a random rider, Sergey Firsanov. He will be coming in soon. We are all volunteers, but there aren't enough of us."

Since the bus door was open and the rider visible, it is unclear if any regulation was violated. Riders do have 30 minutes from the finish of their race to the doping control. Niermann easily made that time cut. It was the second time of the day that he beat the clock. He also won the stage, the only rider faster than 18 minutes.