MOUDON, Switzerland (AP) _ World cycling's top officials will stop the biggest names in the sport from competing if they are found to have committed doping offences.
UCI president Pat McQuaid met Friday with Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme and Patrick Lefevere, who represents the biggest professional cycling teams, to come up with a common strategy for punishing those linked to the Spanish doping scandal.
The three top officials pledged to increase the frequency of random, out-of-competition testing ahead of the Tour de France and to prevent suspected riders from competing in the sport's biggest event.
``If great riders have to be excluded, the will is there,'' McQuaid said. ``Other riders will replace them _ clean riders.''
The sport's credibility was hit by two major doping scandals in 2006 _ Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' positive test for testosterone and the Operation Puerto case in Spain which led to Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso and 1997 Tour champion Jan Ullrich being excluded from the Tour de France.
About 100 riders have now reportedly been implicated in the Spanish investigation, which focused on a doctor accused of running a blood doping clinic in Madrid.
After a Spanish judge threw the case out, McQuaid said the UCI will pursue the Operation Puerto revelations as far as possible. Italian and German authorities have since reopened investigations.
