" The power passport
Lack of investment stalling progress isn’t the preserve of Pitsiladis. At June’s World Cycling Science Conference in Caen, France, sports scientists Louis Passfield and James Hopker presented their ideas for a power passport.
‘The idea is that we monitor riders’ power data over time,’ says Passfield from Calgary, Canada, where he’s on a year’s education sabbatical from his job at the University of Kent.
‘The concept is that we monitor patterns and, if we observe a disproportionate return from training, it could be a sign of doping.’
Passfield concedes data differences between power meters – even variations between identical power meters – is an issue to resolve, but highlights that the power passport will complement the biological version, not usurp it.
‘James and I showed the idea to WADA earlier in the year. One of the professors in attendance was Martial Saugy, who co-created the biological passport.
He thought the idea sounded fantastic as he’d never intended the passport to be solely blood-based.’"