High-level athletes should have access to specific medical monitoring. The aims of this are to keep riders healthy and reduce risks in competition and training. To enable riders to compete in the best and safest conditions possible, teams must implement a medical programme that monitors health and tests aptitude to compete.
In accordance with the UCI medical rules, road riders in UCI WorldTeams and UCI Professional Continental Teams must be part of an obligatory medical monitoring programme. This medical monitoring programme comprises, at the very least, specific function testing and biological examinations listed in the “Programme of Obligatory Tests” drawn up by the UCI Medical Commission. As part of this programme, particular attention is paid to cardiological examination: the aim is to reduce as far as possible the risk of sudden cardiac death during sporting activity. The UCI medical programme comprises four annual biological examinations intended strictly for medical purposes (and which are completely separate from the biological testing carried out in the fight against doping). The UCI Medical Director is in charge of the implementation of the medical monitoring programme, and team doctors are directly responsible for the decisions concerning riders’ fitness to compete.
Still with the aim of ensuring athletes’ health, the medical rules require National Federations to oversee the implementation and monitoring of a medical programme for women road cyclists, as well as BMX, mountain bike and track riders. For these riders, the monitoring programme comprises two annual medical examinations, the content of which is defined by the UCI Medical Commission.
List of the athletes subjected to the medical monitoring in 2019