Cycling is under pressure. Over the past decade, cycling has become a global centerpiece of the pharmaceutically driven sport. The autumnal transition from road cycling to cyclocross has come none too soon for a sport percolating with tensions. From the confrontation between the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) over the control of races to the high-profile revelation during the Tour de France—that the third generation of erythropoietin (EPO), Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) had emerged as the new drug of choice—most invested in cycling are happy to see the off-season arrive. The 2008 racing season began with great hope that the UCI, the governing body of cycling, would be able to guide, direct, and control the future evolution of cycling with a new technological instrument, the biological passport (Union Cycliste Internationale, 2007). By the end of the Tour de France, most would agree that the biological passport was a long way from maturity. Naming the instrument a passport conjures a host of images about cosmopolitan travel, citizenship, and transport. It taps into traditional representations of necessary stamps of approval from a governmental body. This biological passport would govern which physical bodies have access to the sport of cycling.
© Copyright 2009 Journal of Sport and Social Issues. SAGE Publications. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.