EF Education-EasyPost team manager wants anti-doping blood testing 30 minutes before the race

Jonathan Vaughters, team manager of EF Education-EasyPost, told Cyclingnews that he supports pre-race anti-doping blood testing on team buses less than an hour before the start to dissuade a blood doping tactic discovered during the Operation Aderlass probe.

“Of course, it could be problematic to have the anti-doping testers on the bus 30 minutes before the start but if it closes a loophole and is a good deterrent and it further helps regain the public’s trust in the sport, I’m in favor," said Vaughters.

The German Aderlass police investigation, which began in 2019, discovered a blood doping network that spanned various sports and resulted in the arrest and suspension of many professional cyclists." I don’t have any great concern that it’s going on but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so why not put a definite measure in place to make sure it doesn’t happen,” said Vaughters.

Early-morning blood tests are done during large events. To discourage riders from transfusing blood for a specific race or stage, additional tests might be performed on the team bus in the last hour before a race start. But teams and UCI are not happy with this method and want to find a different way to combat the issue.