Abstract
Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance. The use of recombinant human erythropoietin 145 (rHuEPO) or other illicit synthetic oxygen carriers to enhance performance in cycling is common.
Also recent resurgence of blood transfusions for blood doping is likely due to the introduction of efficient EPO detection methods. When asked how important the CAS case could be for the UCI and its Biological Passport, UCI president dismissed some recent doubts about its validity.
The UCI's move to appeal at CAS wasn't the first time a biological case has ventured to the Swiss- based sporting court. However, the UCI has never lost an appeal to CAS concerning the Biological Passport.
The blood module of the athlete biological passport aims to detect any form of blood doping. However, The case of Czech cyclist R.
K. proves that there are stiil needed further steps for it's correct validation and aplication, mainly to prevent false accusation of athletes. There is one principle paradox of blood doping in cycling: there is no scientific basis from which to conclude that rHuEPO has performance-enhancing properties in elite cyclists.