The International Cycling Union (UCI) called for disciplinary proceedings to be started against five cyclists based on suspicious data in their biological passports, according to dpa. The UCI said cases were being opened against three Spaniards - Igor Astarloa, the 2003 world champion, Ruben Lobato and Ricardo Serrano - and Italians Pietro Caucchioli and Francesco De Bonis. They are the first riders facing charges based on evidence provided by the biological passport system launched 18 months ago by the UCI and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The UCI said "disciplinary procedures have been requested against the following riders for apparent violation of the anti-doping rules on the basis of the information provided by the blood profile in their biological passports." The cyclists, their national federations, teams, national anti-doping organizations and WADA have been informed. The UCI said the first year of the era of the biological passport had produced "the very encouraging fact that the overall analysis of the individual profiles of some 840 riders in the programme shows that a very large majority of their profiles do not display any anomalies." It added it was confident the new profiling system "will greatly reduce the possibility of that cheating in the future by any athlete who decides to disrespect the rules of the sport remains undetected."
