The complexities of anti-doping violations: A case study of sanctioned cases in all performance levels of USA cycling

• There is a range of doping case types within U.S. cycling.
• Cases among amateurs differ from those of high-profile professional cyclists.
• Cases vary considerably across specific characteristics (age, substance).
• Current anti-doping policies are unsuitable to meet the needs of amateurs.

The use of banned substances and techniques in sport is regulated by anti-doping rules co-ordinated by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The purposes of these rules are to protect the health of the athlete, the level playing field and what WADA refers to as the spirit of sport. In this article, we review the known cases of sanctions in USA cycling since 2001. We show that the diversity of cases expands upon the simplistic, one-dimensional understanding of doping as risky and cheating. Contrary to this paradigm, we establish a typology of cases that challenges the one size fits all approach and, more specifically, we argue that WADA should develop new policies with independent standards for amateur and masters athletes.