New report maps massive doping abuse in Dutch cycling’s past

Through interviews, the commission found that “in the heyday of EPO, the vast majority of cyclists saw it as a simple necessity – not just to have a chance of winning, but simply to be able to keep up with the peloton.” 

A small group of non-users rejected to join the doping culture by principle, but these were the exception, the commission found.

“Many riders told us that they had faced a stark choice between joining in and getting out. It was crucial to the success of their cycling career and to the simple fulfillment of the basic expectations of the team leadership.”

The report states that the massive extent of doping in professional cycling has been made possible by its concealment to the outside world.

“A carefully-cultivated culture of ‘organised ignorance’ prevailed in the cycling peloton. Many of the people we interviewed said at some point: "perhaps I was a bit naïve". Even so, we believe that everyone who was involved in professional cycling in the late 1990s knew about the use of doping, or in any case could have known.” Also the Dutch team managers were aware of the widespread doping-culture and often performed ‘doping management’, the commission found.

“This form of 'doping management' was inspired partly by a desire for sporting success and partly by the belief that it was impossible to prevent riders from using banned substances. The team management and team physicians therefore saw it as preferable to subject this use to expert supervision”.

The use of doping seems to have fallen since the introduction WADA and stricter anti-doping measures and but the use is still widespread, the report argues.“In spite of the above hopeful signs, it seems very doubtful that the cat-and-mouse game has been halted by. Both the quest for new substances and the development of tests for them are still in full swing.”

The public opinion of doping has shifted since the EPO-days where doping allegations made little or no change in many Dutch people’s attitudes against the sport. Today, cycling in the Netherlands and elsewhere is experiencing a credibility crisis which has helped promote a cultural shift where teams seem to put more emphasis on being clean, the report states. 

Proposed recommendations
In the report, the commission has proposed a number of measures that can be taken in order to support and encourage this shift in the attitudes towards to use of banned substances.

The measures are grouped into three categories; cultural changes, change in organisational structure and change in anti-doping strategies. They include recommendations such as improving international cooperation, improving the position of riders and defining a clear position of medical supervisors. 

Also, building in a space for more openness was recommended, allowing the athletes to speak freely about the past in a safe environment and without fear of repercussions, because the only way to ensure a change in the doping culture is to speak openly about the past, the report argues.

“Simply condemning that doping past out of hand makes it harder to achieve positive cultural change. It encourages people to keep quiet or to gloss over past events. Referring openly to the mistakes that were made is a good thing, since only then can one learn from the mistakes of the past.”

Furthermore, the report suggests a separation of conflicting interests. “We observe that the UCI’s interest in preserving the image of professional cycling may have acted as a brake on the development of anti-doping policy.

Removing the responsibility for doping tests and punishing offenders from international sports organisations would be a way of preventing this conflict of interests.” The full list of recommended measures can be found in full in the report (English summary and conclusion from page 61).

The report has been completed by a Dutch anti-doping commission, ADA, set up by the Royal Dutch Cycling Federation. The commission is chaired by the former justice minister Winnie Sorgdrager, and members of the commission include sports physician Edwin Goedhart and Professor Maarten van Bottenburg from Utrecht University.