France for tougher sanctions after Tour scandals

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Paris, July 31: French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot called for tougher sanctions against doping after a series of scandals marred the Tour de France.

''Sanctions must be increased,'' Bachelot told a news conference yesterday in Paris, a day after the Tour ended in the French capital.

''I will propose a series of tougher measures,'' she added.

''For example, doping is banned but detaining banned products or transporting some is not.

''If there's no traffic, there's no doping,'' she added. ''We must work together more closely with the sporting world as well as with the police and justice.'' Tour organisers said a set of new measures to fight doping should be announced during the presentation of the 2008 Tour route on October 25.

Young Spaniard Alberto Contador won the Tour on Sunday but sport came second in this year's race after leading figures Alexander Vinokourov and Michael Rasmussen were sent packing over doping affairs.

Pre-race favourite Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping following his victory in the Albi time trial and Rasmussen was sacked by his Rabobank team while in the lead because he had lied about his training whereabouts.

Bachelot, speaking after a meeting with the Tour organisers, called for renewed dialogue with the International Cycling Union (UCI) but criticised the ruling body.

''Dialogue with the UCI must be renewed, keeping in mind that some things with them are not working and we have listed them,'' she said.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme had said heads should roll at the UCI, which could haved stopped Rasmussen from starting the race had they applied their own regulations.

Prudhomme said before Monday's meeting that the Tour organisers would no longer work together with the UCI and there would be special rules for the event.

He also suggested the Tour should return to the old formula of national teams rather than multinational, privately sponsored outfits.

Reuters>