Tour must regain its credibility, says race director

PARIS, June 26 (Reuters) The Tour de France has been wounded by doping scandals and must now work to restore its image, according to race director Christian Prudhomme.

''Of course the Tour has been damaged'', Prudhomme told French daily Le Monde in an interview today. ''But it is strong.

What other event could resist what's happening the way it has?'' American Floyd Landis tested positive for testosterone on his way to victory in last year's race and is unlikely to learn the outcome of his doping hearing before this year's Tour, in which he will not take part, starts from London on July 7.

Cycling's greatest event suffered another blow last month when Dane Bjarne Riis, the 1996 winner, said he had used banned drugs between 1993 and 1998.

''The Tour must regain its credibility and its dignity,'' Prudhomme told Le Monde. ''Today, the will (to fight doping) is there because doping is the enemy of the Tour.'' Tour organisers have urged teams not to enter any rider involved in the doping investigation in Spain known as Operacion Puerto.

Prudhomme said only riders who fully accept the anti-doping rules would be allowed to compete.

''We will oppose the presence at the start of the Tour of any rider who will not have signed the International Cycling Union's anti-doping charter,'' he said, adding that race organisers would take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if needed.

REUTERS TB HS1549