Hamburg - The Olympic future of cycling is secure despite massive doping problems, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said on Thursday. Rogge said in a conference call that the sport's governing body UCI can not be held responsible for doping offences of riders and that the UCI was doing its best to restore credibility in the sport.
""My position and the position of the IOC is very clear. We should not throw out the baby with the bath water.
"It is not the UCI who is cheating. It is the riders who are cheating. As long as the UCI will do the utmost effort and have the same zero tolerance as the IOC, they will have their place at the Games," Rogge said.
Cycling has been battered by doping over the past years.
Most recently, Floyd Landis faces being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive at the famous race.
More than 50 riders, including the ex-Tour winner Jan Ullrich have been implicated in a Spanish probe. Several of Ullrich's former Telekom team-mates have admitted to doping in the 1990s, including the 1996 Tour winner Bjarne Riis who was subsequently stripped of that title.
The confessions prompted an IOC investigation as Ullrich won the Olympic road race gold medal and time trial silver in 2000. Ullrich, who retired in February, has protested his innocence.
Rogge said that the IOC will highlight its zero tolerance policy against doping by further raising the number of doping tests from 3,700 in Athens 2004 to 4,500 next year in Beijing and 5,000 in London 2012.
Rogge called for an increase of DNA sampling and for more flexibility in the punishment of offenders.
"We are in favour of sampling DNA. It is an important aspect of finding proof of blood doping," Rogge said.
Speaking on other issues, Rogge said he expects a "very close" race between Pyeong Chang, Sochi and Salzburg when the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics is elected by the IOC Session in Guatemala City in less than two weeks on July 4.
"What really makes the difference is the confidence they (the IOC members) have in the people. The human factor will make the difference," Rogge said.
