Is cannabis prohibited in UCI cycling?

Yes, in-competition only. The UCI follows WADA — natural and synthetic THC are prohibited under Section S8 of the WADA Prohibited List in-competition with a 150 ng/mL urinary THC-COOH threshold. CBD is explicitly exempted (since January 1, 2018).

What is Floyd's of Leadville?

Floyd's of Leadville is a CBD product line founded by former professional cyclist Floyd Landis. It is the most famous cyclist-led cannabis or CBD brand and is named for Leadville, Colorado, the high-altitude home of the Leadville Trail 100 endurance events.

Cannabis in Cycling: Floyd's of Leadville & UCI WADA Rules

Q: Has cannabis been a long-running cycling story?

Yes. Cannabis use among cyclists has been documented in journalism since the early 2000s, predating organised cannabis-policy advocacy. The visibility predates the post-2018 hemp regulatory opening and the mainstream cannabis-athlete brand wave that followed Floyd's of Leadville.

Q: Does the WADA in-competition rule actually catch out-of-competition use?

It can. Out-of-competition cannabis use is not itself a WADA violation — but THC-COOH is a metabolite that persists for days to weeks. Heavy out-of-competition use can still trigger an in-competition Adverse Analytical Finding when the in-competition period (commencing 11:59 p.m. on the day before competition) begins. See our in-vs-out-of-competition page for the detailed mechanics.

Cycling and cannabis: Floyd Landis's "Floyd's of Leadville" CBD line, UCI WADA enforcement, and the long-running cannabis presence in cycling journalism predating organized advocacy.

UCI Under WADA: The In-Competition Rule

Cycling at the UCI level operates under the WADA Prohibited List. Under Section S8 of the 2026 list (effective January 1, 2026; approved September 11, 2025), "Natural and synthetic tetrahydrocannabinols (THCs)" are prohibited in-competition only. The urinary THC-COOH threshold is 150 ng/mL, with a 180 ng/mL Decision Limit accounting for measurement uncertainty. Cannabidiol (CBD) is explicitly exempted — removed from the Prohibited List effective January 1, 2018.

WADA defines the in-competition period as "commencing at 11:59 p.m. on the day before a Competition in which the Athlete is scheduled to participate, through to the end of that Competition and the Sample collection process" (2026 Prohibited List). Out-of-competition cannabis use is not a violation. But the metabolite math — THC-COOH persists for days to weeks — means heavy out-of-competition use can still trigger an in-competition Adverse Analytical Finding. See In- vs Out-of-Competition for the mechanics and Washout Protocols for the practical pre-event timing.

Floyd's of Leadville

The most famous cyclist-led cannabis or CBD brand is Floyd's of Leadville, founded by former professional road cyclist Floyd Landis. The brand is named for Leadville, Colorado, the high-altitude home of the Leadville Trail 100 endurance events. The product line emphasises CBD — consistent with Landis's positioning the company as recovery-oriented and the WADA-permitted status of CBD since 2018.

Floyd's of Leadville sits in the athlete-founded brand tier alongside TYSON 2.0, Primitiv Group, Viola Brands, Real Wellness/Highsman, Dodi Blunts, and the broader athlete-cannabis ecosystem. Within cycling specifically it is the anchor brand — no other former pro cyclist runs a comparably visible operation.

Cannabis in Cycling: A Pre-Advocacy Story

Cannabis use among cyclists has been documented in journalism since the early 2000s, predating organised cannabis-policy advocacy. The visibility predates the post-2018 hemp regulatory opening and the mainstream cannabis-athlete brand wave. Cycling's open relationship with cannabis is older than the modern WADA cannabis ban — predating the 1998 "Ross Rebagliati Rule" addition of cannabis to the IOC list (see the Rebagliati case) and the 2013 WADA threshold raise from 15 to 150 ng/mL.

Long-Aerobic Sports and the CB1 Substrate

Cycling shares the same neurobiological substrate as ultrarunning and climbing: extended sub-maximal aerobic output activates the endocannabinoid system, raising plasma anandamide (Sparling et al., Neuroreport, 2003) and producing the CB1-mediated anxiolysis and analgesia that Fuss et al. 2015 demonstrated in mice. Multi-hour rides — centuries, gran fondos, ultraendurance bikepacking — place riders in the same prolonged CB1-modulated reward state that endurance running produces. The cultural overlap is not coincidence; it is pharmacology meeting geography meeting subculture.

CBD and Cycling Recovery

CBD's evidence base for endurance recovery is preliminary but growing (Limited evidence). Atalay, Jarocka-Karpowicz, & Skrzydlewska (Antioxidants, 2019; doi:10.3390/antiox9010021) reviewed cellular and animal evidence for CBD's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects via PPARγ, adenosine A2A, and TRPV1 pathways. McCartney et al. (Sports Medicine - Open, 2020) and Burr et al. (Sports Medicine - Open, 2021) found "preliminary, at times inconsistent" evidence in clinical translation. Cochrane et al. (JFMK, 2025) and Isenmann et al. (Sports Medicine, 2024) report mixed signals on muscle-damage markers with CBD doses 60-300 mg post-resistance exercise.

For tested cyclists, NSF Certified for Sport CBD products are the only category that materially controls THC-contamination risk — the central CBD risk for athletes (Bonn-Miller et al., JAMA, 2017: 21% of online CBD products contained THC; 69% mislabelled overall). See NSF Certified for Sport CBD.

The Amateur-Pro Split

The visible cannabis-and-cycling story plays out very differently at the amateur-recreational tier than at the UCI-licensed professional tier. Amateur centuries, gran fondos, mountain-bike events, and most off-road ultraendurance events do not drug-test at all. A racer at the Leadville Trail 100 mountain-bike race is not subject to UCI in-competition cannabis enforcement. A licensed UCI rider in a UCI-sanctioned road or off-road event is. The cultural openness about cannabis in cycling reflects the substantially larger amateur-recreational tier; the testing discipline is required only for the smaller pro-licensed contingent.

Where Cycling Sits

Cycling's cannabis story is one of long-standing cultural openness, a single anchor athlete-brand (Floyd's of Leadville), and a UCI in-competition rule that disciplines the small visible pro tier without erasing the broader recreational adoption. For the WADA mechanics, see WADA & Olympics; for the brand-ecosystem context, see Athlete-Founded Cannabis Brands.