The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), UCI WorldTeams, UCI ProTeams, UCI WorldTour organisers and men’s professional road cyclists have strengthened the capacity of the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Aiming to protect cyclists and the integrity of cycling from 2023, funding for the ITA-led anti-doping programme for road cycling will increase by 35% over the next two years. The focus lies on reinforcing capacities in the areas of intelligence & investigations (I&I), testing, science, data analysis, long-term sample storage and sample re-analysis.
To increase the independence and professionalisation of its programme, the UCI delegated all operational anti-doping aspects to the ITA at the beginning of 2021. UCI has reported that, a year after the transfer of cycling’s operational activities to the ITA, an audit by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), validated the quality and strength of the UCI’s ITA-led anti-doping programme.
The funding increase will be gradual, with an additional €1.5 million invested in expanding ITA’s I&I, testing and scientific capacity in 2023 and a further €2.4 million from 2024 onwards, with a focus on long-term preventive measures through further sample storage and re-analysis, as well as additional data analysis.
At the end of this two-year cycle, the annual operational budget for the fight against doping in cycling will have grown to a total of €10 million, 35% more than today.
