- HOT TOPICS:
- An American start for the Giro? •
- 2010 Routes: Giro | California | TdF •
- LA doc guilty on all counts
Turf war? WADA withdraws from world's committee
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) withdrew from the steering committee of next month's World Road Race Championships on Wednesday, after a disagreement with the UCI.
There were no WADA representatives at Tuesday's meeting of the steering committee, responsible for over-seeing drugs tests during Stuttgart's four-day event at the end of September.
WADA informed both the steering committee and the German Ministry of the Interior of its withdrawal in a letter, but gave no details of the reasons behind the fall-out.
Susanne Eisenmann, president of the organising committee, said she regretted WADA's decision, but insisted there will still be a strict anti-doping policy in force for the championship event.
The organisers have carried out a large number of pre-competition spot tests and there will be double the number of urine and blood tests compared to last year's World Championships.
The German gouvernment had insisted on the high-level of scrutiny after threatening to cancel the event on the heels of a year's worth of doping scandals, many involving veteran riders on Germany's top team, Deutsche Telekom.
Relations between WADA and UCI have been strained since July when cycling's governing body declined WADA's idea to hold an anti-doping summit.
