UCI boosts anti-doping funding by 35%

The UCI has boosted the money for their anti-doping programme by 35% over the course of the next two years. 

All anti-doping operations involving the UCI were delegated to the International Testing Agency at the beginning of 2021, the increase in funding is to be spread across all areas of their operations, but with a particular focus on men’s road racing. 

In a statement the UCI said that the funding increase will help to “reinforce capacities” in a range of areas including “testing, intelligence and investigations, data analysis and science.” 

“The focus lies on reinforcing capacities in the areas of Intelligence & Investigations, testing, science, data analysis, long-term sample storage and sample re-analysis,” the statement added. 

The funding committee of the UCI anti-doping programme, which is behind the decision to increase spending, is made up of representatives from a variety of organisations including the UCI itself, as well as teams, riders and race organisers associations. 

The increase in funding will be gradual, with an expected increase of €1.5m in 2023, before a further €2.4m from 2024 onwards. In total, the increase in budget will eventually amount to nearly €10m, a 35 percent increase on spending today. 

One of the main target areas for the increase in budget and spending, is the area of “intelligence and investigations” on a global scale, which, according to the UCI, has been identified as a priority. Another area of interest will be the greater capacity to store samples for later testing, for up to  a period of 10 years under the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] code. 

The UCI said  that doing this enables and prolongs the ability of the ITA to “detect anti-doping rule violations and provides an effective form of deterrence.”

The world governing body also said that the additional funding in this area will be used for “specialised staff, additional platforms and IT tools, as well as for storage and laboratory costs.”

It’s hoped that the increase in budget will help the UCI and ITA to continue efforts to “protect the credibility of cycling” well into the future.