July 08, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1428

GUATEMALA CITY, July 7: Cycling's credibility is in shreds because of their mishandling of doping within the sport said Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), here on Friday on the eve of the beginning of the Tour de France in London.

The straight-talking Canadian lawyer, who steps down at the end of the year, slammed the sport's governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI) for letting the matter get out of hand and said that they were now paying the consequences financially.

“I don't know what the sport of cycling has to go through to shed this image,” said Pound, who finished second to Jacques Rogge in the battle to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch for president of the IOC in 2001.

“They (UCI) have allowed it to get out of hand. “First it was a denial of a problem, and saying that the positive doping cases were isolated incidents and now they accept that it is endemic and organised.

“Their credibility is in shreds. Networks are not interested and sponsors are diving out of the sport.”Pound, though, was not weeping for the sport as he said it was clear where the blame for the cancer affecting cycling lay.

“It is a problem they created and allowed to fester,” he said.

“Now they have to pay for it.

“Such has been the cynicism created by the sport that now everytime an athlete puts in a stunning performance people question whether it was too good and was it assisted.”Pound said he did not know whether the problem could be sorted out through a general amnesty in a sport.

“I don't know if it's the right answer,” said Pound. It (doping) is so endemic in the sport. The UCI has not done enough to date but at least they have now come to recognise this.”

Cycling has had a nightmare last 12 months which evoked memories of the 1998 scandal that enveloped the then elite Festina team which saw them thrown off the Tour de France for systematic doping.

Last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis tested positive - though he is presently awaiting the verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which is expected soon.

The Operation Puerto - files seized by Spanish police last year from a doctor - swept up star names such as 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and 2006 Tour of Italy winner Ivan Basso.

Added to that Ullrich's former Telekom team-mates 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis - now retired - and ace sprinter Erik Zabel also confessed to taking banned products leading to the latter being excluded from consideration for next year's Olympics in Beijing. —AFP