Cycling union ponders double dose for doping
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Bans for cyclists who failed doping tests could be doubled to four years as of next year, according to the International Cycling Union (UCI) overnight.
The news comes after Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl, who placed third at this year's Tour de France, tested positive for a strain of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA.
Sanctions will be made on a case-by-case basis, said UCI president Pat McQuaid, and cyclists will be judged on the gravity of the infringement and in particular the nature of the substance.
Kohl is the fourth Tour de France rider after Italians Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli, to test positive for the drug along with Germany's Stefan Schumacher.
McQuaid said he would like to see drug cheats slapped with bans - currently at a two-year maximum - for life.
"I have said before that I would like to see them out of the sport for good. That is purely on a personal level," he told cyclingnews.com.
"However, we are obliged to follow the world anti-doping code, and that is what the UCI will do. Currently the world anti-doping code gives a maximum two-year sanction in the case of a positive test.
"From the first of January there is a bit more flexibility in it, and we can go up to a four-year ban in the cases of something regarded as wilful cheating."
-AFP
