Tour de France Dir Christian Prudhomme on Sunday urged other int'l federations to investigate their sports after the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) published an independent report into cycling's "ugly past," according to Julien Pretot of REUTERS. Prudhomme said that cycling has been "at the forefront of the fight against doping after years of scandals." The Frenchman welcomed the publication of the Independent Reform Commission's report (CIRC), "saying it showed that cycling, the sport that first implemented the biological passport in 2008, had the strength to deal with its problems." Prudhomme: "The report was ordered by the International Cycling Union. It exists because the management of the UCI wanted it. It shows that there have been improvements in a world that is not perfect. But the fight against doping is a permanent fight." Prudhomme hinted that cycling was "not the only sport with a doping problem." He said, "Cycling cannot be singled out, you cannot just put it in a corner. I think that we all dream that all the international federations order an independent report to look into what's going on in their patch" (REUTERS, 3/15). Pretot reported in a separate piece the UCI "unveiled a series of recommendations" as part of its anti-doping program. The sport's governing body is looking to "encourage" night-time testing and will "relaunch" its whisteblower program. It will also be trying to "work with the pharmaceutical industry" (REUTERS, 3/13). BLOOMBERG's Christopher Elser reported the UCI will "expand its review of teams' staff, including doctors and sports directors." It will require members of squads to meet its "fit-and-proper-persons requirement" (BLOOMBERG, 3/13).
