The UCI's decision to delegate anti-doping results management to an independent body, the International Testing Agency (ITA), has been labeled a "powerful signal of trust".
The move was announced on Monday afternoon, and means that the prosecution of anti-doping violations and whereabouts activities in cycling have joined operational anti-doping activities at the ITA.
It means the ITA assumes responsibility for legal proceedings pertaining to anti-doping matters in cycling, including the handling of potential anti-doping rule violations and whereabouts failures. The UCI's Management Committee passed the measure at a meeting in Belgium at the ened of January.
David Lappartient, UCI president, said: "The delegation of results management to the ITA represents another major step in a process initiated with the creation of the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation to ensure the independence of the fight against doping in cycling, in order to make it as effective and deterrent as possible.
"Since the delegation of the operational aspects of its anti-doping programme to the ITA in 2021, the UCI and the cycling community have been able to fully appreciate the professionalism of the independent international anti-doping organisation. It is therefore with full confidence that we are now entrusting results management to the ITA. In doing so, we continue to move towards even greater integrity in our sport."
"This decision is a powerful signal of trust from the UCI, and one that we take with great responsibility," the ITA's director general, Benjamin Cohen, added. "Cycling has the largest anti-doping programme delivered for an International Federation anywhere in the world, and the UCI’s choice to fully entrust its results management to the ITA reflects both the depth of expertise within our legal and operational teams and the maturity of our partnership.
"Beyond governance structures, what truly matters is what athletes experience on the ground: a system that is independent, consistent and able to act with authority and speed. Through this delegation, the UCI is demonstrating a clear and long-term commitment to providing its riders with the strongest possible anti-doping programme. We warmly congratulate the UCI for the clarity and consistency of its path towards independence and for its continued leadership in protecting clean sport."
Late last year, anti-doping group the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC) appealed to cycling's governing body to take action against the "medicalisation" of the sport. The MPCC called on the UCI to work to stop the "expansion of the so-called grey area[s]".
