From Eurosport:
'Clinical denial' -Pound
In an exclusive Eurosportnews interview with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
president [censored] Pound, the International Cycling Union (UCI) came under fire
for being one of the only sporting federations to not sign the WADA code.
With less than three months remaining before the Athens Games, the UCI still
has not signed the WADA code, which would threaten to remove cycling as an
Olympic sport.
"The problem with cycling is that they [the UCI] know that at least one part
of the sport, the professional road racing circuit, has a serious problem,"
Pound told Eurosportnews. "And it's that part of the sport that produces
most of the revenues that keep the UCI going."
The strict code sets out uniform rules and sanctions involving all sports
and countries, imposing automatic two-year bans for doping violations -- a
factor to which UCI president Hein Verbruggen opposes.
"The UCI is reluctant to get into something that may expose a rider who
tests positive to a two-year suspension..."
According to Pound, the drug situation has only gotten worse in cycling.
Recent revelations of systematic doping involving the Cofidis and Kelme
teams calling for change in a sport which is gradually losing credibility.
"You would think that cycling would say: 'this is bad for our sport. There
are constant revelations of systematic doping among teams. We've got to
clean it up'," Pound said.
"But instead their approach has been: 'we do more testing than anyone else
so why are you picking on us'? The fact of the matter is that no matter how
much testing they're doing, they haven't made progress in stamping out
doping from cycling.
"There is no indication whatsoever that their is less doping than in the
past."
While Pound makes no secret of his strong opinions about the UCI's efforts
in combating doping, riders and the cycling community alike haven't welcomed
his criticisms with open arms.
Five times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong recently sent a letter to
Pound defending the sport, stating that doping was not a major concern in
cycling.
"I am in the face of every other sport just as much as cycling," Pound said.
"But the problem with cycling is that there is this clinical denial of a
serious problem.
"Cycling complains when riders come forward and say 'this is what we had to
do on our team'. They're dismissed as cranks instead of people that actually
knew what happened. They are the paths to a possible solution!"