The UCI’s recent ruling on the Katusha team was an illustration of how any rules a sport makes have to fit in the wider world and comply with national and international law. Because Luca Paolini’s provisional suspension relates to a claimed “recreational” use in the UCI’s view it would have been disproportionate to suspend the whole team. It suggests there are two rulebooks, the WADA one with its black and white text and another with additional rules and a sort of grey zone where an athlete like Paolini is suspended on a doping related matter but his team are not. Similarly to explore another topical subject, any sanction on Femke van den Driessche will have to reflect the fact that, as reported, she didn’t actually use a motor in the cyclo-cross worlds.
