On the Tour de France, the fight against doping continues in a context of structural suspicion

Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has just crossed the finish line of the ^11th stage of the Tour de France , Wednesday, July 16, in Toulouse, where he embarks on another race that will last more than an hour. The Irishman, who retained his yellow jersey at the end of the loop in Haute-Garonne, complies with the obligations incumbent on the leader of the general classification of the event. A passage on the ceremonial podium, then in a press conference, before concluding the day in the truck of the International Testing Agency (ITA, for International Testing Agency) for an anti-doping test.

"It's a long process, sometimes some riders really need to go to the bathroom when they arrive," smiles Pascal Eeckhout, who has been officiating at the Tour de France since 2008. Every day, he and his colleagues oversee the urine tests of the stage winner and the yellow jersey – whose bikes are also analyzed. At its discretion, the ITA can also summon other members of the peloton or go directly to their hotel to take blood samples. During the three weeks of the race, 600 samples are collected by the agency.

The ITA has been leading this anti-doping fight on behalf of the International Cycling Union (UCI) since January 2021. "An independent authority had to deliver the program to resolve the conflict of interest, real or perceived," explains Valérie Fourneyron, Minister of Sports during François Hollande's five-year term and president of the organization since its creation in 2018.

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