Teams face self-bans in doping cases
The international cycling teams association will adopt new stringent measures that could see entire squad being barred from competition in the event of positive doping tests.

The fight against doping was reinforced on Saturday when the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT) body accepted changes to the UCI Pro Tour rules concerning doping.

Teams have agreed that as of January 2007, they will automatically suspend their participation in a race if one or several of their riders tests positive or returns an abnormal blood screenings.

A statement from the IPCT said: “In the event that a team is confronted with several positive tests or abnormal readings from tests from riders, the team will automatically suspend its activity.”

The new rules state that teams will stop racing for eight days after the first two positive anti-doping controls within one calendar year. The rules state that a team will not pull out of a race, but agree to not compete in the next ProTour event, though the exclusion doesn’t count ahead of the season’s three big grand tours.

In the event of another case, the team will stop for four weeks as well as miss the next ProTour event, even if it is a grand tour.
Agence France Presse

DNA testing considered
The UCI is also hoping it can oblige riders to submit DNA samples and undergo physiological profiling in a bid to stamp out doping, the UCI announced here Friday.

After a series of meetings on Friday between the body which distributes team licenses for the Pro Tour and the racing series’ legal advisers, the UCI’s Pro Tour council announced that DNA profiling and physiological profiling of riders would be one of the measures they are hoping to introduce.

A statement said: “After consultation with the riders' association, the Pro Tour Council has also decided to look into the possibility of demanding that riders be obliged to submit DNA samples

“They would also be asked to undergo tests which would be used to gauge their physiological potential.”

The moves would allow the UCI to up the ante in the fight against doping. Despite huge investment and increased controls, numerous scandals have further sullied the sport.

UCI president Pat McQuaid added: "It is important for us to show that we will not tolerate cheats. DNA is not the only way. We are looking at all the possibilities that we can use.”

The UCI statement conceded that the UCI's fight against doping had been harder than anticipated. “... the current, and extremely rigorous, rules have not allowed us to react quickly enough in certain cases. This can prove decisive when it comes to affecting the image of cycling, but it can also lead to an atmosphere of uncertainty for those involved.”

The Pro Tour council also called for reinforcing the principle of legal action against anyone involved in doping.
Agence France Presse

McQuaid: ‘Pound must go’
World cycling chief Pat McQuaid on Saturday called for World Anti Doping Agency president Dick Pound to be replaced for his “consistent but unjustified” attacks on cycling.

McQuaid, the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) has been at odds with Pound in the past over the Canadian's views that the UCI is not doing enough to combat doping in the sport.

However here at the world cycling championships McQuaid claimed the WADA chief's outspoken views has led to a loss of credibility that should lead to his replacement.

“Mr. Pound has lost his credibility,” McQuaid told reporters. “He knows very well how much the UCI is doing to fight doping but continues to constantly criticize us instead of working with us. It’s an attitude I can’t understand.”

Irishman McQuaid added that he had addressed a letter to members of WADA, which was created in the wake of the Festina doping scandal at the drugs-tainted Tour de France in 1998, detailing his views on Pound.

Pound said after the last Tour de France, where American Floyd Landis tested positive for testosterone, that cycling's bosses had ultimately failed to wipe out doping.

“Cycling has a tradition of doping, and is quite clearly incapable of getting rid of it,” said Pound last month.

In the wake of several doping affairs over the summer, which have yet to reach their legal climax, McQuaid is set to launch an ambitious audit of the sport.

He is currently looking into the possibility of riders being obliged to submit DNA samples. Coupled with physiological profiling of athletes, the move could prove a deterrent, and also prove useful in doping controls.

McQuaid added: “He (Pound) is just after publicity, and doesn't stop attacking cycling. He is trying to kill off cycling. For the UCI, the sooner he is replaced the better. His attitude is just unacceptable.”
Agence France Presse