A data passport is definitely not the best way for the UCI to detect dopers.
At least, that’s the opinion of the pros who might be subject to a new scheme being trialed by the governing body and its independent testing agency, the ITA.
“The CPA’s position is very clear: we’re 100 percent against this, and so are the riders,” rider representative Adam Hansen said this week.
The concept of a “power passport” was proposed last summer.
Puzzling changes in a rider’s power output or training load? Further lab testing is required.
“The riders have to submit all the power data, and then they [the ITA] go through it all,” Hansen told the Domestique “Hotseat” podcast.
“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.”
Riders and team trainers contacted by Velo this week expressed uncertainty over a concept riddled with potholes and loopholes.
A faulty power meter, a switch from Shimano cranks to SRAM, or a trip to altitude are among the multiple factors that can introduce variances to a power profile. Even training indoors vs. out can change a rider’s output.
Hansen, who is president of the CPA riders group, fears a requirement to submit training files would pile further pressure onto a peloton that’s already pushing toward burnout.
“If your Garmin falls off, which happens sometimes, and you can’t upload your files, or if your Garmin’s flat, does that mean you can’t go training?” he said.
“There are so many factors where a rider just won’t have their training data – and if they can’t submit it, is that a missed control?” Hansen said. “A missed test is very severe, so this just adds to the extra stress for the athletes.”
Training load, not power peaks
The “power passport” scheme is currently being tested by four teams ahead of a potential further rollout, and it’s already hot gossip.
The “one-year feasibility study” will enter a planned year-2 pilot sooner than the peloton knows it.
Speaking to Velo on Thursday, Jayco-AlUla trainer Peter Leo cautioned against all the criticism of the UCI’s new project.
The Austrian physiologist is working with the governing body and its testing agency on the initial tests and explained the nuance.
“It’s a bit of a hot topic. Riders are pretty unsure about participating,” Leo told Velo.
“Riders don’t understand they have quite strict privacy and data anonymisation, so there won’t be consequences if they participate in trial. It’s a very emotional topic, they say ‘what if my power meter is wrong?’”
Leo explained that the ITA isn’t looking for 2000-watt spikes or 15 W/kg intervals, but periodic training load.
The kilojoule numbers spat out by power meters are being used to model a reasonable training progression that will help red-flag juiced-up outliers.
“They’re looking at work completed in training, at the kJ over time,” Leo told Velo. “They analyse it retrospectively and prospectively, and try to establish cut-offs.
“That’s a more robust way than looking at power outputs alone. It’s more robust against any outliers.”
As the ITA statement explained last July:
“Findings from the first year will be used to develop a model of ‘normal’ and ‘expected’ career trajectory performance over time. This allows for the identification of ‘abnormal’ or ‘unexpected’ performances. This will help identify ‘abnormal’ or ‘unexpected’ patterns that may indicate possible performance enhancement.
“While the model is not intended to serve as direct evidence of an anti-doping rule violation, it will act as an important additional intelligence tool to support the ITA’s broader anti-doping strategy.”
The perils of profiling power
The data passport is an intriguing concept, no matter how the ITA chooses to interrogate athletes’ power files.
The UCI is currently on an anti-doping crackdown that’s led to a handful of suspensions in the past six months. Training data will guide the governing body’s biological testing and add fresh sophistication to its quest to keep cycling “clean.”
But it’s not so simple.
Speaking to Domestique, Hansen raised multiple concerns.
“With your blood, it remains very consistent, so the biological passport is not a bad idea,” Hansen said. “The problem with power data is how do the testers know what the riders are doing?
“What if your coach tells you to ride 80 percent for three weeks, and then he says, ‘tomorrow you’re going to ride 120 percent for a shorter period.’ How do they know without looking at the training program what the rider is doing? And then they’re creating a baseline for the athlete off that easy zone, but that’s not the true baseline.”
As Hansen outlines on the podcast, the data passport is a strong concept that’s hard to implement without multiple layers of context.
“I can’t see how they’re going to really find [true] irregularities in the training,” Hansen said. “Also, sleep plays a part in it, caffeine plays a part in it, or what if they go to the gym? That’s going to affect their training.
“There are so many variables that change the power data.”
And more to the point, how do the UCI and ITA know if a rider’s dataset is complete, and their own?
Watts the problem with UCI trials?
The UCI and ITA are presumably working through all these wrinkles in their year-1 test.
And while they do that, Jayco-AlUla trainer and project collaborator Leo told Velo the peloton should pause for breath.
The power passport is still more a concept than a reality. And what’s the problem with increased scrutiny on a fast-developing sport?
“I don’t think it’s bad they want to explore something, and there’s been research since 2018 that power output could be used in a meaningful way as an anti-doping tool,” Leo said.
“In the end of the day, we all want a clean sport. These tests don’t automatically mean they’ll introduce it. I think we need a bit of a less emotional discussion about it, and appreciate that the UCI is looking to improve the transparency of the sport.”
The peloton will be watching this space, and ensuring they don’t adjust their power meters.
Source URL: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/uci-power-passport-doping/