WADA: Tramadol Drug Of Choice In Cycling

WADA: Tramadol Drug Of Choice In Cycling

According to a new report from the World Anti-Doping Agency, cyclists are testing higher for pain killers more than athletes in any other endurance sport.

Jun 14, 2018 by Joe Battaglia
WADA: Tramadol Drug Of Choice In Cycling

According to a new report from the World Anti-Doping Agency, cyclists are testing higher for pain killers more than athletes in any other endurance sport.

The organization released 2017 data from its Monitoring Program – a tracking of substances that are not on the banned list but may be abused – which showed that Tramadol was traced in over four percent of all tests conducted on cyclists.

Tramadol is a synthetic opioid painkiller and often combined with acetaminophen. When taken orally, the onset of relief from racing can be felt within as little as one hour, making it popular to mask the pain endured after grueling stages.

WADA’s report showed the frequency of positive tests for Tramadol have decreased over the last two years. In 2015, 730 out of 12,358 tests returned levels more than 200ng/mL of Tramadol (5.9%). In 2017, out of 12,554 samples tested, 548 were positive for more than 50ng/mL of the painkiller, a rate of 4.4%.

By comparison, 14,048 track and field doping controls returned just 40 positive for more than 50ng/mL of Tramadol, just 0.3%. Contact sports such as soccer (0.35%) and rugby (1.4%) also came in with significantly fewer positives than cycling.

WADA also monitored glucocorticoids, steroidal medications used to treat inflammation. In-competition testing revealed 3.8% positive testing in cyclists, the highest percentage of positive samples in any sport. In out of-of-competition testing, cycling was third behind skiing (5.5%) and triathlon (4.7%) with 4.38% positive samples. 

The Movement for Credible Cycling has repeatedly called for corticosteroids and Tramadol to be included on WADA’s list of banned substances. Last year, the MPCC president Roger Legeay penned an open letter to WADA director general Olivier Biggli, imploring him, “What are you waiting for?!”

"Since the creation of the Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), we have been warning continuously your agency regarding the issues of corticoids and we have been advising the prohibition of tramadol since 2013," Legeay wrote.

"Ever since, we have faced those same answers that seem to be the political will included in the phrase: 'wait and see.' Indeed, your answers never change: 'we are setting up a commission,' 'we will make the working group aware of that,' 'we keep on monitoring'…"