Inside cycling’s biological passport: how science caught up with Oier Lazkano
The provisional suspension of Spanish rider Oier Lazkano has renewed focus on cycling’s biological passport. a tool designed to track the body’s chemistry over time and expose irregular patterns that traditional doping tests might miss. Speaking to Sporza, doping expert Peter Van Eenoo, head of the anti-doping laboratory in Ghent, explained how the system works, why such cases take time, and what teams can and cannot know.
“There are actually four types of biological passports,” said Van Eenoo. “One for steroids in urine, one for steroids in blood, one for growth hormone markers, and finally the blood passport, which monitors blood values over time.”
Each athlete’s data is tracked over months and years. “Everyone’s values fluctuate naturally,” he explained. “But if those fluctuations cross certain limits, the system flags them for review. The passport helps identify athletes who may need more specific testing, and in some cases, those irregularities alone can lead to a positive finding.”
When a value appears abnormal, the data is sent to an expert for assessment. “If that expert concludes it’s doping, the passport is sent to two other experts who don’t know it’s a suspicious case,” said Van Eenoo. “If all three reach the same conclusion, it becomes an official passport case.”
Not every flagged case leads to a sanction. “In about half of the cases, the initial finding is withdrawn after further analysis,” he noted. “But when three independent experts agree, the evidence is very strong. That’s why almost all cases that reach a commission are upheld.”
The Lazkano investigation covered samples taken between 2022 and 2024. For Van Eenoo, the long delay before action was not a flaw, but a sign of scientific caution. “It actually speaks in favour of the experts that it took this long,” he said. “They always try to exclude every other possible explanation before concluding it’s doping. You need time and data to see patterns. Experts start from the presumption that the athlete is innocent until there is real proof.”
He offered an example. “If an athlete shows unusual blood values after a high-altitude training camp, you want to know if they always react that way. Sometimes it takes multiple tests over time to confirm a pattern.”
He compared the system to speed checks on the road. “A test during competition is like a fixed camera, an out-of-competition test is like a mobile camera, and the biological passport is the average speed check. It completes the picture.”
The passport’s privacy rules also mean that teams rarely have access to an athlete’s data. “The UCI and WADA can’t just release passport information because of privacy laws,” Van Eenoo said. “Some teams ask riders to share their values and have them checked by independent experts. I don’t know if Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe did that with Lazkano, but if not, I hope this case will make teams more aware of the risks.”
For Van Eenoo, the system has helped clean up cycling significantly. “We see far fewer fluctuations than we used to,” he said. “It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the best tools we have.”
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