The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) today reveals its programmes to combat anti-doping and technological fraud that it will implement for the upcoming Tour de France (5-27 July).

The comprehensive anti-doping programme deployed at the French Grand Tour will be led by the International Testing Agency (ITA), the body to which the UCI delegated its anti-doping programme in 2021, whilst retaining results management and the prosecution of anti-doping rule violations.

As part of its anti-doping mandate for the UCI, the ITA is responsible for the year-round implementation of the cycling anti-doping programme. Within this framework, the ITA will independently manage the clean sport strategy for the 2025 Tour de France. This programme features a targeted, intelligence-led testing plan grounded in the latest scientific developments and risk-based analysis.

Key features of the ITA anti-doping strategy for the 2025 Tour de France include:
- deployment of over 40 ITA staff including sample collection personnel at the Grand Départ in Lille
- around 350 out-of-competition tests in the month prior to the race
- around 600 in-competition samples to be collected during the event
- strengthened data analysis capacity to refine the testing and Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) strategy both out-of-competition and in-competition, with a particular focus on Grands Tours
- strong cooperation with French national authorities, including the French Anti-doping Agency (AFLD)
- long-term storage and potential re-analysis of selected samples over a 10-year horizon in anticipation of future new detection methods or scientific developments
- increased focus on the endogenous steroid markers measured in blood serum as part of the steroidal module of the ABP, and on the endocrine module of the ABP to better detect markers of human Growth Hormone (hGH) abuse.

The strategy is based on an adaptive risk assessment approach that integrates various dynamic factors, such as rider performance trends, to ensure strategic testing throughout the event. Insights from the ABP, including the endocrine module, as well as information gathered by the ITA’s dedicated cycling team within its Intelligence & Investigations (I&I) department, inform these efforts.

Testing during the Tour de France will be targeted and may occur at any point during the three-week race, not just at stage finishes. Like every year, the yellow jersey wearer and each stage winner will be tested. In addition, all participating riders will undergo pre-race testing as part of their medical monitoring protocols. For the 2025 edition, the Paris-based World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory will serve as the primary facility for sample analysis.

Approximately 600 urine and blood samples will be collected during the Tour itself. The ITA is also placing a strong emphasis on the period leading up to the race by planning around 350 out-of-competition tests to secure a level playing field from the outset. Following the conclusion of the race, a targeted selection of samples will be retained for long-term storage and future re-analysis based on intelligence gathered throughout the season and during the event. The ITA will continue its monitoring efforts post-event using all collected data.

Throughout the race, sample collection will be executed primarily by the ITA’s own experienced personnel, including 13 expert doping control and blood collection officers. The ITA is also coordinating closely with the French National Anti-Doping Organisation (AFLD), whose sample collection staff will contribute to the testing operations. Additional cooperation with local, national, and international authorities will support operational execution and intelligence exchange.

The 2025 Tour de France also benefits from the sustained increase in resources allocated to clean sport efforts in men’s professional cycling. As part of a multi-year initiative that culminated in 2024, the UCI, UCI WorldTeams, UCI ProTeams, organisers of UCI WorldTour events, and riders committed to a 35% funding increase to the ITA for implementing the UCI anti-doping programme. This enhanced budget continues to support critical areas such as I&I, scientific development, data analysis, testing, long-term sample storage, and re-analysis.

In 2024, the ITA strengthened its investigative capacity by doubling the human resources dedicated to cycling and, together with the UCI, developed a policy and operational framework to implement and apply enhanced investigative powers, a pivotal measure to support evidence gathering in anti-doping investigations. The ITA also doubled the overall number of samples retained in long-term storage by selecting 1,690 samples after careful assessment of various risk-factors, 76 of them from the 2024 Tour de France. In addition, 490 samples collected in 2015 were also re-analysed, with all of them returning negative. As part of its broader anti-doping strategy, the ITA is also developing a new longitudinal performance monitoring tool based on power data from men professional road riders- This is designed to act as an additional source of intelligence to guide targeted testing and advanced laboratory analysis, prioritise investigations and refine its long-term sample storage.

The Director General of the ITA Benjamin Cohen said: "The Tour de France is not only one of the most iconic events in sport, it is also a key moment for protecting the integrity of cycling. Our approach in 2025 reflects a continued commitment to intelligent, data-driven anti-doping strategies grounded in science, collaboration and continuous improvement. By combining targeted testing with advanced analytical tools such as the endocrine module, long-term sample storage and performance monitoring initiatives, we aim to ensure that this prestigious race is contested on a level playing field. We are proud to lead these efforts on behalf of the UCI and in close coordination with all our trusted partners."

As part of its ongoing commitment to integrity in cycling, the UCI will once again implement an enhanced programme to combat technological fraud during the 2025 Tour de France.

Building on the foundations laid in previous years, the UCI will deploy a series of non-intrusive inspection technologies and performance and incident monitoring mechanisms designed to detect any form of technological fraud, including concealed propulsion systems, particularly motors. This system, which will act as a significant deterrent, will be implemented systematically throughout the three weeks of the Grand Tour.

Targeted checks will be carried out before and after each of the 21 stages, and a reinforced monitoring programme will be conducted throughout each stage.

Before each stage, a UCI Technical Commissaire and other officials will visit team buses to check the riders' bikes. These pre-stage checks will be carried out using magnetic tablets and other inspection techniques.

During each stage, an incident and performance monitoring programme will be implemented, relying in particular on the UCI Video Commissaire and the UCI Commissaires officiating at the race. Anything that arouses suspicion will thus be identified, enabling better targeting of checks.

After each stage, checks will be carried out on the bikes of:
- the stage winner
- riders wearing a leader’s jersey (yellow, green, polka dot, white)
- several randomly-selected riders
- any rider who gives rise to suspicion, for example following the pre-stage control or as a result of events identified during in-race monitoring, for example by the UCI Video Commissaire.

In 2024, the UCI conducted 192 X-ray checks during the Tour de France, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. For the 2025 Tour de France, the aim is to increase not only the number of checks but also their quality and accuracy, in line with the objectives of its 2030 Agenda.

The UCI's programme to combat technological fraud covers the entire cycling season. To date in 2025, more than 600 X-ray checks have already been carried out, representing an increase of around 24% compared to the same period last year.

The UCI continues to improve its detection and inspection capabilities, as it did in 2024 with the introduction of a new strategy and action plan based on four key principles: diversion, deterrence, detection and disruption. It also launched a Rewards Programme in 2024 offering incentives for the reporting of actionable information and intelligence on technological fraud.

The UCI's strategy enables it to continuously monitor changes and anomalies in bike equipment and configuration. Pre-race magnetometer scans, incident and performance monitoring, and post-race X-ray inspections now function as an integrated framework, providing a holistic, intelligence-based model.

UCI Director General Amina Lanaya said: “The UCI once again has a comprehensive programme in place to fight against technological fraud at the Tour de France. It is important that everyone can be sure that the athletes’ performances are due to their personal physical performance – not motors. Our responsibility is to stay ahead of any threat to the fairness of competition, and we continue to invest in robust detection systems and intelligence frameworks to ensure all riders and teams compete on equal terms.”

The UCI again underlines its firm commitment to ensuring that cycling remains free from threats to its integrity, whether doping or technological fraud. With this in mind, anyone with information or suspicions relating to any form of technological fraud or doping is encouraged to report them - securely and confidentially - on the relevant reporting platform: for technological fraud, on UCI SpeakUp, launched by the UCI in 2021 and which is a key element of the Federation's Cycling Integrity programme; for doping, on REVEAL, the International Testing Agency's (ITA) platform. It is everyone's responsibility to rid cycling of such threats.