"The appointed Anti Doping Control Officer from UCI was fallen ill and I was in contact with UCI officials about this several times before the race days. With very short notice UCI succeeded to find a replacement Anti Doping Control Officer for the Friday TTT-race but not for the Sunday Road Race. Therefore the tests could not be carried out. I know that UCI put in enormous efforts in finding replacements and they did a fantastic job finding one for Friday. I have read both your article and Marianne Vos statement on BikePure.

Also there I have a correction. It was the Anti Doping Control Officer being not available; the Anti Doping Doctor was there all the time. The organization has a female Med. Dr for this purpose and she was present from Friday until Sunday. To be able to do the tests, the doctor however is not enough, the AntiDoping officer must also be present."

As Anderson explained, the issue appears to be one of resources within the UCI, in that there was no one available to cover for a sick anti-doping control officer. While this can be seen as unfortunate, it is perhaps also an indication of the standing that the women’s sport has within its governing body.

It’s hard to imagine the same thing happening in an equivalent men’s race, such as this Sunday’s Vattenfall Cyclassics.