[burningChrome]

>> Riders are tested a lot and have to provide year-round whereabouts for random testing.

If I remember correctly, these rules were changed after the Armstrong scandal where he would be scheduled for testing, he would say he was at his house in Texas. The testing folks would show up and he just wouldn't answer the door and wait until they left so they couldn't test him. It was one of the ways he was able to dope on a set schedule, all the while being able to maintain he was being tested more than any other athlete - when in reality, he was just avoiding being tested.

It seems like a lot has changed since his scandal and several others that followed and they've really clamped down on what you're saying, changes in blood values and getting suspended if you cannot be reached for testing.

[TuesdayNights]

Cyclist need to log virtually everything they consume (food, water, medications), on top of declaring their whereabouts and biological passports, in case they return a positive test. I'm not disagreeing with the "price of admission" for competing in the world tour shouldn't be high, but I can imagine it's stressful that something as simple as drinking water from a tap could, effectively, end your career.

Lizzy Banks goes into great detail about her experince with doping control and trying to overturn a positive result due to a contamination. It's a long read, but if you're a fan of the sport it's super interesting. https://lizzybanks.co.uk/

It was also discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40612281

[matsemann]

There is an app where you have to give your whereabouts for one hour every day. If you don't fill it in or are unavailable at the location for that hour, you get a strike. Three strikes in a set period and you will get a ban as if you had been doping.

One problem with the system is that it relies on countries being strict with their athletes, which they aren't incentivized to do. Also, it's easy to "be available" but not get tested by going somewhere remote for a height camp for a few weeks.

[jimbokun]

Like Russia where the testers were running the doping program.

[bluecalm]

Like Spain when there are legal problems with testing on weekends.

[lormayna]

Guess why only Basso and Ulrich get disqualified after the operacion Puerto and why Spain dominate in almost every sports for more than a decade.

[dyauspitr]

I didn’t understand this. You have to show up at a location once a day and stay there for an hour?

[matsemann]

No, you have to give your location for an hour each day where you know you'll be. Like "on monday you can find me at the gym 12-13", or "Tuesday I'll be at the hotel room 18-19". And then you have to be at those locations.

[lesuorac]

> and getting suspended if you cannot be reached for testing.

Hard to believe it took a scandal for that to be a rule.

[daanlo]

Afaik that was already the rule 25-30 years ago when Armstrong was cycling. I can remember track and field athletes being banned when they didn‘t show up for surprise tests. So either cycling was more lenient or he got a bonus treatment because he was famous.

On a side note: much harder today to not be available/found than it was 30 odd years ago.