The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) today announced the establishment of a formal collaborative partnership that will allow for extensive cooperation through the sharing of relevant anti-doping information, intelligence and athlete biological passport data, and participation in joint investigations, testing missions, and other initiatives.
Recognising that anti-doping requires strong global commitment and partnerships, the UCI, the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the UCI to plan and carry out anti-doping in cycling, and USADA are confident that this agreement will enhance and streamline anti-doping efforts and better ensure that all athletes in the sport of cycling can compete on a clean and level playing field.
This partnership is the latest of many similar agreements signed by the UCI since 2013 in the pursuit of a strategy of cooperation and data sharing.
UCI President Brian Cookson said: “Signing a sharing agreement with one of the most important stakeholders in the field of anti-doping is another testimony to the tremendous progress we have made in the past three years in rebuilding trust in the UCI. This partnership strengthens our intelligence-led approach and we now have an unprecedented level of collaboration with anti-doping organisations around the world.”
Under the agreement, USADA and the UCI – through the CADF – will also work together on testing plans for UCI-sanctioned events in the United States. The organisations will share appropriate whereabouts information, testing results, and other data.
“I am excited that the progress made by the UCI over the last several years has allowed our organisations to now come together to best serve clean athletes,” said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart. “We know from experience that when sport organisations partner with independent anti-doping organisations, it brings confidence to athletes that their rights are being protected, and that they can compete and win on a level playing field.”