'Our goal is to protect clean riders' – virtual cycling platform MyWhoosh introduces randomly selected anti-doping programme

Virtual cycling platform MyWhoosh is to introduce an anti-doping and integrity testing initiative for racers, it was announced on Thursday. Around 700 riders will form part of the initial testing pool, which is believed to be the first anti-doping programme for e-racing.

The free-to-use, Abu Dhabi-based platform is the home of the UCI Esports World Championships, and offers significant cash prizes for winners in its Sunday Race Club competition. As of 17 May, participants will face random drug tests after they compete.

MyWhoosh will work with a provider called International Doping Tests & Management (IDTM), and selected riders will be notified remotely and must remain at their declared location for up to three hours post-event to provide urine, blood, or dried blood spot samples to appointed testing personnel.

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"The introduction of anti-doping and integrity testing is about protecting fair competition and rider trust," Matt Smithson, Director of Esports & Game Operations at MyWhoosh, said. "As our Sunday Race Club grows, the standards around fairness must match the seriousness of the event. Our goal is to protect clean riders and ensure that our global community can trust in the integrity of every podium finish."

For Sunday Race Club, there is a monthly purse of $300,000 (£220,000), divided out between individual winners (from 1st to 10th) and team winners through six categories – with category one being elite riders, down to category six.

Those tested will be selected based on random choice, podium finishes, performance data, or intelligence-led targeting, and notification could occur shortly before, during, or after an event.

To maintain transparency, riders will be required to provide an accurate declared location during registration to facilitate potential testing appointments. Failure to comply with testing instructions, including refusal, evasion, or tampering, could result in severe sanctions such as disqualification, prize money claw-backs, and suspension from the platform.

The anti-doping initiative will work alongside existing integrity systems, which monitor hardware, software and performance data verification.

"If someone’s cheating, they’re probably mechanically cheating," Smithson told The Guardian. "But we’ve got a lot of verification to try to stop that now. Riders have to use a specific trainer to race, with two ways of showing their power. We also get our athletes to do what we call a power passport test. That includes a film test, so we know it’s that person. We can see their power, we can see their heart rate. We can see all of those things. And that gives us a physiological print of who they are.

"Our drug testing, which is the first of its kind, is another way to help everybody feel that they are racing on a level playing field."