UCI President David Lapartiento revealed that the number of anti-doping tests has dropped by 95% in recent weeks due to the global outbreak of COVID-19.

Many well-known riders have lamented this lack of control, with Romain Bardet recently saying that it seems like "forever" since he was last tested. Thibaut Pinot revealed that he has not been inspected since October, and Tom Dumoulin said he has not knocked on the door "for months."

Chris Froome, who is recovering in his personal pain cave in southern France, told L'Equipe magazine that he has not been examined since the closure began on March 17.

Anti-doping tests are conducted in-competition and out-of-competition, and athletes in the registered testing pool are obligated to provide their whereabouts information for out-of-competition testing. Testing can be requested by the UCI, WADA, or national federations, and is usually conducted by local anti-doping officials. anti-doping in cycling before its integration into the international testing agency just established by the International Olympic Committee in 2021 is now the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation is in charge.

According to the most recent CADF business report available, 2,474 blood tests were conducted in competition and 4,199 out-of-competition tests were conducted in 2018. 4,861 urine tests were conducted in competition and 3,747 out-of-competition; with no races allowed since Paris-Nice in early March and a strict lockdown in most major cycling countries restricting the movement of anti-doping inspectors, La Partiente has seen these numbers drop 95% from reduction.

"The anti-doping situation has been quite severe, with lockdowns in many countries, making it quite difficult to continue the testing program. We've had a lot of problems," LaPartiento told media outlets, including Cycling News, on Tuesday.

"We have discussed this with the CADF so that I can return to work as soon as possible."

The fight against doping has evolved in recent years to include information, police evidence, and investigations by specialized agencies, as well as biological passports that measure fluctuations in blood levels over time to highlight possible blood doping through EPO and blood transfusions. 2015 saw the UCI dropped its case against Roman Kreuziger, since then only one current WorldTour or Pro Continental rider, Jaime Rosson, has been sanctioned for biological passport fraud.

The riders are obligated to update their whereabouts information despite their incarceration, and La Partiente hopes that the inspections will begin soon as the riders return to outdoor training and begin preparing for the new race calendar, which is set for August through November

"We hope that the inspection will start soon.

"A biological passport would allow us to see if there was any manipulation between the beginning and the end of the blockade. I am confident that we will discover if there were any doping practices during the course of this period," Lapartiento asserted.

"The CADF will do its best to ensure the credibility of our sport for the second half of the season."