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Cycling leads world sports in anti-doping, says Cookson

"We are now the leading sport in terms of anti-doping" says UCI president after a year in the job...

Cycling is leading the way in the global sports war against doping, the UCI president Brian Cookson has said as he reflects on his first year in the top job in the sport.

Following last September’s convoluted voting process in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Cookson has found himself presiding over a tarnished game, struggling in the wake of the Lance Armstrong revelations that were overseen by the controversial Pat McQuaid.

"I think we've made a lot of progress already," Cookson told insidethegames. "Looking back to this time last year, the UCI had lost the confidence of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and was almost in conflict with them.

"One of the first things we have done is to establish a very good relationship with WADA. We've gone out of our way to rebuild relations with them, and to reshape our anti-doping practices in accordance with their rules.

"We have had an independent audit on our anti-doping programme, which has put forward recommendations we are in the process of fulfilling. And we have completed the process of making the Cycling Anti-doping Foundation operational without any of the UCI Management Committee involved.

"So we have been working very hard towards the things we set out to do. As far as the fight against doping goes, I guess the key phrase is 'eternal vigilance'.

"We are now the leading sport in terms of anti-doping.

"I don't know of any other sport that has thrown itself open to this amount of external scrutiny."

Indeed there are other sports where it seems doping scandals are set to blow apart reputations; late last year we reported how Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray said that tennis needs to adopt a near “zero tolerance” approach to doping after criticising two fellow players banned in connection with doping offences as “unprofessional.”

Murray was talking about the cases of Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, who had an 18-month ban for failing to provide a blood sample reduced to 12 months after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Croatian player Marin Cilic, banned for nine months after testing positive for the banned supplement, nikethamide. CAS subsequently reduced his suspension to four months.

Cilic blamed his positive test on glucose tablets his mother had bought him at a pharmacy in Monte Carlo, where he was competing in a tournament.

Troicki claimed that he was unable to provide a blood sample when requested because he was feeling unwell, and maintained that the doping control officer said he would be able to provide it the following day – something the official concerned has denied.

Golf too has been controversial, with the veteran player Greg Norman complaining last year that not enough was being done to address doping. He told the Australian:

"How deep it is (the problem), I have no idea because we only do urine analysis instead of blood testing," Norman said. "If you really want to be serious about it and find about what's really going on, we need to do blood testing. I think it's disgraceful, to tell you the truth. The golf associations have to get together and step it up.

"It's a pinprick for a player and you find out what's going on. If you're the head of golf or any sport, if you're the commissioner for a sport, it's your responsibility to make sure your sport is clean. ... That should be your No. 1 priority.”

For Cookson, keeping doping out of cycling is an integral part of keeping cycling alive.

"It is always my intention to make clear the moral and ethical case against doping. And while we are talking about that, there is also an economic driver here,” he said.

"Media, sponsors, fans and the public don't want to be involved in a sport where doping is a big problem. We saw a clear example of this in 2008 when the German media pulled out of covering cycling at professional level. At one time there were three top pro teams in Germany - at the moment there are none.

"We are determined to do everything we can to stop some of the practices which have harmed our sport in recent years."

Cookson went on to say that cleaning up cycling was not just for the good of the professional sport: "I would certainly want cycling to have a good reputation that it deserves for the actions it has taken," he said.

"I would like it to be even more popular in terms of general participation, and of people using bicycles for transport.  It's not just about elite level sport - we want to promote the fun and sense of sporting achievement that people can get from cycling in their everyday life.

"We want a good strong presence in the Olympic Games, involving more diversity but still respecting the heritage and integrity of our sport.  And as far as road racing is concerned, we want to put an end to teams appearing and disappearing with such rapidity by making team racing into a more economically sustainable business, so that teams have a guaranteed future.

"And we also want to have greater numbers of women involved in cycling both in terms of competition and administration."

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15 comments

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portec | 10 years ago
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"We are now the leading sport in terms of anti-doping"
There's no need for the word "now" in that sentence, Brian. Cycling has been the leading sport in terms of anti-doping for at least a couple of decades. Sometimes cycling doesn't do a very good job but it's still better than other sports that I'm aware of, simply because other sports do such a poor job. And it's easy to see why. Look at how the mainstream media portray cycling. Until very recently the only cycling-related stories the BBC were interested in were doping stories. No sport wants that kind of publicity.

As SteppenHerring says, if you don't look for cheats you won't find any. And to the average punter, if doping cheats are not found then they assume the sport is clean. But cycling is different to other sports. Take football, for example. Most football fans have a team that they support. Do they really care about whether any of their team are doping? Of course not. All they want is to watch good football and for their team to win.

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HarrogateSpa | 10 years ago
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I think Cookson is a big improvement on what went before, but he is going too far in saying that cycling leads the world in anti-doping.

Who really thinks that cycling is 100% clean? Why do we still have such a high percentage of riders in the peloton who have been banned for drug use in the past, or have worked with doctors like Ferrari?

Mr Cookson is quite entitled to tell us about the steps he has taken, but he should steer clear of making sweeping boasts such as this, which are likely to haunt him when the next big scandal breaks.

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portec replied to HarrogateSpa | 10 years ago
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HarrogateSpa wrote:

I think Cookson is a big improvement on what went before, but he is going too far in saying that cycling leads the world in anti-doping.

Who really thinks that cycling is 100% clean?

He's not saying that cycling is 100% clean. I'm sure he knows it isn't. He's simply making a comparison with the recent past.

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Al__S replied to portec | 10 years ago
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portec wrote:
HarrogateSpa wrote:

I think Cookson is a big improvement on what went before, but he is going too far in saying that cycling leads the world in anti-doping.

Who really thinks that cycling is 100% clean?

He's not saying that cycling is 100% clean. I'm sure he knows it isn't. He's simply making a comparison with the recent past.

He's also very openly criticising the anti-doping efforts of every other sport.

Rightly.

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davidnhill43 | 10 years ago
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I agree with some of the comments made above, and would like a complete ban for life if you are found to be cheating in all sports, lets make it clear doping must be stopped once and for all, and blood tests as well as urine should be the order of the day, having a ban for a limited time makes no sense at all.

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mrmo replied to davidnhill43 | 10 years ago
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davidnhill43 wrote:

I agree with some of the comments made above, and would like a complete ban for life if you are found to be cheating in all sports, lets make it clear doping must be stopped once and for all, and blood tests as well as urine should be the order of the day, having a ban for a limited time makes no sense at all.

but what is doping? Take the JTL, it is opinion, there is no absolute proof he doped. Or the spate of Clenbuterol cases, doping or eating the wrong thing? Or to confuse further Alain Baxter who failed a drugs test because the medicine he used was different in the US and the UK. How about Daryl Impey, or the number of asthmatics in the peloton, what about Tramadol, etc etc.

The idea of life bans sounds appealing, but to me it is like the death sentence, sometimes mistakes happen. Are you willing to screw up someones life completely?

second offence, third offence then yes i would be happier for a life ban, but first time, unless it is absolutely clear that the offence was pre-meditated,

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drfabulous0 | 10 years ago
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I think I would have to be drugged up the eyeballs to play golf in the first place. Antbody mention football? No, thought not.

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jasecd | 10 years ago
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Having Cookson in charge gives me far more confidence in the UCI than McQuaid or Verbruggen, however I'm concerned he could be making a rod for his own back by making statements such as these.

Also is there any point in golfers doping? I know there are different types of PED's but walking five miles and swinging a club c. 72 times isn't exactly taxing. I reckon most of them are more concerned with IPO's then EPO.

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felixcat replied to jasecd | 10 years ago
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jasecd wrote:

Also is there any point in golfers doping? I know there are different types of PED's but walking five miles and swinging a club c. 72 times isn't exactly taxing. I reckon most of them are more concerned with IPO's then EPO.

I seem to remember reading of sportsmen in sports like golf using drugs to calm nerves. Beta blockers?

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Simmo72 replied to jasecd | 10 years ago
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jasecd wrote:

Also is there any point in golfers doping? I know there are different types of PED's but walking five miles and swinging a club c. 72 times isn't exactly taxing. I reckon most of them are more concerned with IPO's then EPO.

You under estimate the strain some of those guys have sucking in that gut and hauling themselves out of the golf buggy and directing their caddy where to carry their clubs.

Seriously though, i reckon there is something out there, more power, steadier hand, where there is a way, there is a pill!

Good on Norman for speaking out.

Tennis is lenient and with insufficient testing. Lets not also forgot a certain pile of blood bags that the Spanish officials don't want analysed........top end football per chance?

Looking back I think Cookson has had a good first year. He's raising the profile of womans cycling, hammering the dopers, brought the hour record back from the dead, UCI is in better hands than before that is for sure.

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Simmo72 replied to jasecd | 10 years ago
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jasecd wrote:

Also is there any point in golfers doping? I know there are different types of PED's but walking five miles and swinging a club c. 72 times isn't exactly taxing. I reckon most of them are more concerned with IPO's then EPO.

You under estimate the strain some of those guys have sucking in that gut and hauling themselves out of the golf buggy and directing their caddy where to carry their clubs.

Seriously though, i reckon there is something out there, more power, steadier hand, where there is a way, there is a pill!

Good on Norman for speaking out.

Tennis is lenient and with insufficient testing. Lets not also forgot a certain pile of blood bags that the Spanish officials don't want analysed........top end football per chance?

Looking back I think Cookson has had a good first year. He's raising the profile of womans cycling, hammering the dopers, brought the hour record back from the dead, UCI is in better hands than before that is for sure.

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Rupert | 10 years ago
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Dear Mr Cookson why aren't EPO cheats in cycling banned for life ? #justwondering

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mrmo replied to Rupert | 10 years ago
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Rupert wrote:

Dear Mr Cookson why aren't EPO cheats in cycling banned for life ? #justwondering

http://journaltimes.com/sports/football/nfl-union-agree-to-new-drug-policy-hgh-testing/article_1e430d9c-f691-5207-8762-719c9990b55b.html

In case you thought two years was lax!

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SteppenHerring replied to mrmo | 10 years ago
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mrmo wrote:
Rupert wrote:

Dear Mr Cookson why aren't EPO cheats in cycling banned for life ? #justwondering

http://journaltimes.com/sports/football/nfl-union-agree-to-new-drug-policy-hgh-testing/article_1e430d9c-f691-5207-8762-719c9990b55b.html

In case you thought two years was lax!

Bloody Hell!?!!!11eleven!?

4 game suspension?

When people say "they keep finding drug cheats in cycling" is this purely because they keep looking? Because if you don't look, you won't find any.

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Legin replied to Rupert | 10 years ago
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Rupert wrote:

Dear Mr Cookson why aren't EPO cheats in cycling banned for life ? #justwondering

Because the UCI has signed up to the WADA code; WADA do not ban them for life - it isn't rocket science to work that out is it?

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