Eurosport is reporting today that Swiss anti-doping investigators believe that cyclists may have used the enzyme protease, which is commonly found in laundry detergent, to tamper with doping samples. The findings first aired on Swiss State TV this past Sunday, and were later confirmed by the head of the head of the WADA accredited laboratory in Lausanne. Swiss investigators believe that the enzyme can destroy proteins in urine samples, and can effectively mask the use of substances like EPO. Discovery of protease use became apparent “as a result of coordination between the magistrates investigating the recent Spanish doping affair, the International Cycling Union and Switzerland's anti-doping authorities." A further tip-off may have come from lab tests where there were “a large number of tests in which no EPO was showing up, not even naturally occurring EPO.” The discovery may require doping control officers to be more vigilant as “this manipulation can only be happening at the actual moment when the urine is being collected.”

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