"Is artificial intelligence the new doping?" asked former Movistar director of performance Mikel Zabala at this year’s Science & Cycling conference, held each year the week prior to the Tour de France Grand Départ. It’s where cycling’s most progressive academics, sport scientists and WorldTour staff present their work, featuring the latest research on training, nutrition and equipment.
But Zabala’s presentation stood out as the experienced Spaniard warns of parallels between the Armstrong era and the artificial era. Why? We’ll come back to Zabala’s psychosocial reasoning later. But Zabala did shine a spotlight on AI and why machine learning could be an anti-doping scientist’s worst nightmare…
