I saw a study that estimated that drug use is rife in the Belgian amateur competition. Riders, (especially older ones who came of age in the pill popping free for all of the 80's), were totally frank on the issue, and one commented that if they introduced testing half the field wouldn't show up. Holland is suspected to not be much better....
One guy claiming to be clean said week in week out he was far stronger than his buddies in training rides, and then on race day those same guys would lap him. (I know the feeling) Another reported witnessing a competitor jabbing a syringe into his stomach half way through an amateur kermesse.
There was also film footage of an idnependent doping control bus that occasionally visits amateur races actually being obstructed from doing its work by race organizers, and riders refusing to take the tests.
Considering the average prize money for the winner of a top end amateur race in Belgium is about 50 Euro I find this really worrying.
It also worries me that at amateur races here (Netherlands) there are no controls, and at elite / semi pro criteriums there are also no tests. Amphetamine is cheap, widely available, great for a crit and out of the system in hours....caffeine (ab)use seems to be visibly rife.
I think if progress is to be made against doping it needs to be made impossible at elite amateur level too. That's where the pros come from, and it's important that they don't learn bad habits early on.
Do other Nations test the top category amateurs?