Mountainbiking: Director hopes for drug-free world champs

WELLINGTON - World mountain bike championships director Arthur Klap is hopeful the event beginning next week in Rotorua will not be blighted by drugs controversies.

However, everything is in place to catch any cheats.

"There is no history of drug use in the world mountain biking championships," Klap told NZPA today.

As organiser of six previous world championships, including mountain running in Wellington last year, Klap said he had never experienced a positive drugs test at one of his events yet.

"This is my seventh world championship event.

"There have been one or two positive drugs tests but there's not a strong history of drugs abuse in mountain biking.

"I'd be happy obviously (if no one tested positive) but so will the athletes who want a drug-free competition."

However, with the spotlight turned on cycling after the positive test returned by American Floyd Landis while winning the Tour de France last month, keeping the event clean was one of the priorities.

"Here in New Zealand, we are pretty experienced at setting up drug testing systems," Klap said.

"I'm not sure about the number that will be done but we have full testing facilities set up at the course."

The International Cycling Union (UCI) will be sending a doctor from France as well as an anti-doping inspector.

"The likelihood will be that the podium getters (top three from each event) will be tested and there will be random testing throughout the competition," Klap said.

Meanwhile former women's junior and senior world downhill champions Scarlett Hagen and Vanessa Quin had given the 2.2km downhill course, featuring a 11-metre jump over water near the start, the thumbs-up.

Klap said the cross-country and downhill courses, three years in the making, had been tweaked following the Oceania championships in March.

"The downhill now has a rocky technical section that will sort the men out from the boys.

"Vanessa and Scarlett are very positive about these changes from the Oceania championship," Klap said.

A bit of everything will be thrown at riders over hilly 5.9km cross country course which is made up cobblestones (2 per cent), 4WD track (18 per cent), grass (20 per cent), single track (60 per cent) and technical (40 per cent).

"For the cross-country course, we have introduced some technical areas, more natural features and a rocky section," Klap said.

- NZPA