If cycling does not adhere to new anti-doping rules proposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it may be thrown out of the Olympic Games. That was the stark message, according to sources, of a meeting in Lausanne yesterday which discussed the agenda for January's world conference, called in response to this year's drug scandals in the Tour de France and problems in leading Olympic sports such as swimming and athletics.
Top cycling officials including Hein Verbruggen, head of the Union Cycliste International (UCI), the world governing body, have been adamant that cycling cannot afford to be tough on drug cheats because competitors may sue for loss of earnings. But this argument is apparently not acceptable to the IOC.
The meeting supported two-year bans for any athlete found taking steroids or hormones. Verbruggen, however, recently backed a UCI decision to impose bans of seven months on three Swiss cyclists who confessed to using the banned hormone erythropoietin. The UCI has said that if it attempts to impose longer bans it might be in danger of going bankrupt.
The union is clearly split. Yesterday Verbruggen sent out a seven-page letter in response to criticism from his vice-president, the Frenchman Daniel Baal, that he and the UCI had not moved far or fast enough on this issue.
On Thursday, Bruno Roussel, the disgraced manager of the Festina team which was thrown off the Tour de France over doping allegations, blamed the UCI and the French Cycling Federation - of which Baal is the head - for the systematic use of drugs in cycling.
Three Festina cyclists, Richard Virenque, Pascal Herve and the 1997 world champion Laurent Brochard, have been summoned to appear before the investigating magistrate in Lille on Tuesday, and the cyclists at the centre of the other scandal, the members of the TVM team, will be questioned again by magistrates in Reims at the end of the week.
Yesterday's Lausanne meeting also heard plans to introduce a multi-million dollar world drug-testing agency aimed at surprising competitors around the world with random training tests. Officials have yet to sign agreements on a new medical code put forward by the IOC and are not committed to back any of the proposals officially yet.
Athletics doping expert Arne Ljungqvist said: "There is general agreement (on the agency). That is the most important step although the details have yet to be worked out."
International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) president Primo Nebiolo said officials had to act now. "The events of last (European) summer have not only illustrated the dangers of doping for all sports, but these incidents have also pushed all of us to be here today," said Nebiolo, also head of the body combining all Summer Olympic sports.
"In this moment, the media and the general public are watching us to see whether we lead or whether we hesitate. I don't think there is any question that the time now is to lead."
