LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 9, 2009 (AFP) – The scientist responsible for the implementation of cycling’s biological passport system says some sports are 10 years behind cycling when it comes to anti-doping procedures.

Dr Neil Robinson, who works at an anti-doping laboratory here, said on Monday that the deterrent effect of the passports – which contain a personal record of each cyclist’s drug-testing history – was “the biggest success of this year”.

“What’s interesting is that we’re able to see certain individuals’ statistics change according to the sporting calendar,” he said.

“We can therefore predict when they’re going to dope, and that allows us to provide information to the federation so that they can better adapt their anti-doping tests.

“For example, if one rider concentrates on the Belgian classics while others focus on the Tour de France or the Tour of Spain, we’re able to observe any abnormal behaviour from individuals before these competitions.”

The passport system was adopted by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in January 2008 and the organizers of the three major Tours – in France, Spain and Italy – have all decided to enforce ownership of a passport as a prerequisite for participation in their events.

“Lots of people (in other sports) have criticized the UCI, but you only find things by looking,” Robinson said.

“We have profiles (of athletes) in certain sports which correspond to what we saw in cycling 10 years ago.

“I’m not saying that there’s no doping in cycling, but the UCI has put a strategy in place and the results are plain to see.”