The International Olympic Committee will retest all doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new blood-boosting drug. The unprecedented move, announced on Wednesday, is designed to search for a banned substance that was only recently detected during retesting of samples from the Tour de France.

The Beijing samples — across all sports — are being sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Lausanne, IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said. The IOC conducted more than 5,000 drug tests during the Beijing Games.

The samples will be reopened and tested for CERA, a new generation of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO. The substance boosts an athlete’s performance by increasing the number of oxygen-rich blood cells. Details of the testing procedure are under discussion with WADA, Moreau said.

The decision comes after a new test used by the French Anti-Doping Agency detected CERA during retesting of samples from Tour de France riders. The original urine tests had raised suspicions but proved inconclusive. “It’s very good. It allows us to confound the cheaters,” Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme said Tuesday.

IOC vice president Thomas Bach said Tuesday that the future of men’s road cycling in the Olympics could be threatened unless the sport cleans up its act. “If the entire sport doesn’t pull together to improve the situation, “then you have to consider giving men’s road cycling a pause” from Olympic participation, Bach said.