Biological passport — and now a data passport too? Riders’ union furious over new development: 'We’re 100% against this'

Towards the end of last year’s Tour de France, the ITA (International Testing Agency) revealed it was trialling a new approach. Not blood tests or urine tests, but analysing power output data. According to Adam Hansen, president of the CPA, that goes too far.

'What they’re testing this year is power data,' he explained to Domestique. 'The riders have to submit all the power data, and then they’ll go through it all. If they see things that are irregular, then they'll do more target testing or maybe in the future this could also mean a sanction [in itself]. Now they’re only testing it this year with four teams and the CPA’s position is very clear: we’re 100% against this and so are the riders.'

The Australian says there are simply too many pitfalls to the plan — mostly practical ones, like broken power meters, altitude differences, and how the data would be interpreted. “OK, it’s only a test. And it’s voluntary, but my question is: what if the rider doesn’t send in their data? Does that count as a missed control?”

The “data passport” would, in theory, become important alongside the biological passport, which has been mandatory since 2008. Oier Lazkano was recently suspended due to irregularities in that passport, but Hansen believes a data passport would be far harder to apply — and much more controversial.

“With your blood, it all stays very consistent, so the biological passport isn’t a bad idea. The problem with power data is: how do they know what riders are doing? What if your coach tells you to ride three weeks at 80%, and then one day at 120% for a shorter period? How do they know what the rider is doing, without the coaches’ training programmes?

Hansen also worries it could harm riders’ mental wellbeing. “A missed test is very serious, and that adds extra stress for athletes,” he said. “For me, it’s becoming too much. That’s why you see younger guys burning out. They can’t survive.”