Transfer of UCI's Anti-Doping Program to the ITA enters final phase
On 11 November 2020, the International Testing Agency (ITA) took part in a video conference organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) with representatives of the various families of professional road cycling – teams (AIGCP), organisers (AIOCC), riders (CPA) – to keep them informed on the progress of the transfer of operational anti-doping activities in cycling from the CADF to the ITA.
During this meeting with the representatives of the cycling families – the sixth since 17 October 2019 when the UCI announced it was studying the possibility of a future collaboration with the ITA – the Director General of the ITA Benjamin Cohen and the Director of the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) Olivier Banuls gave a joint presentation confirming the smooth running of the transition, which will come into effect on 1st January 2021.
The participants were informed that the large majority of the CADF staff (11 out of 13) had accepted to join the ITA, which will guarantee that the expertise acquired by the CADF will remain within the ITA. Cycling’s families also learned that thanks to the excellent cooperation between the two bodies, the current pandemic did not interfere with the agreed timeline for the transfer of the mandate. It is therefore confirmed that the ITA unit dedicated to cycling will be fully operational from 1st January 2021, thus ensuring the continuity of the UCI’s anti-doping programme.
Moreover, the representatives of the UCI, the AIGCP, the AIOCC and the CPA – member organisations of the Funding Committee, whose role will be maintained with the transfer to the ITA – decided to conserve the amount of their respective contributions to cycling’s anti-doping programme in 2021 at the level initially set before the crisis in 2020.
At the end of the meeting, all cycling’s families declared themselves satisfied with the progress of the transfer of the anti-doping activities and convinced that the fight for a clean sport in cycling will rapidly benefit from the advantages of the transfer to the ITA.
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