The Italian Olympic Committee’s (CONI) leading anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri has stated that there has been a ‘monumental’ reduction in drug use among professional cyclists, according to news agencies ANSA and AP.
Torri made his comments at an anti-doping conference on Saturday, “When I began with CONI (in 2006) the situation was dramatic. Today I can say that there has been a monumental change.”
“Good work has been done by all those involved, including the riders’ association. I’m not optimistic enough to say that doping has been beaten, but certainly among professionals it has been reduced a great deal and I’ve contributed to that.”
Torri made comments last year that doping was so widespread within cycling that it should perhaps be legalised. His turnaround in opinion is evidence that the sport is at the forefront of anti-doping. The sport has a tarnished image but does more than any other sport to combat the evils within it and over time this image will change. Some other sports don’t even undertake anti-doping programs and testing which to many connected with cycle sport will find this astonishing.
Torri’s remarks only seem to apply to the professional ranks and he painted a bleak picture of events in the amateur side of the sport, “The situation there is dramatic,” said Torri, “I’ve met entire families who dope. From lawyers to manual labor workers, they do anything just to win a salami in ridiculous races.”
The increase of positive tests within amateur and Masters categories are echoed in Torri’s comments. The reasons for this aren’t clear but it’s very worrying when amateur riders feel the need to resort to performance enhancing substances to gain an illegal advantage on their fellow competitors.
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