German chief toughens up

Speaking at the finish of the fifth stage of the Tour of Germany, Scharping told Reuters the controls would be more stringent than those imposed by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

"They will be much more frequent, higher quality and of greater intensity," he said. "This policy, effective from September 1, will affect teams in all professional categories, both for men and women."

He said sanctions would include permanent suspensions from national teams for world championships as well as temporary suspensions from racing.

Scharping also called on the German government to toughen its laws against suppliers of banned drugs "the so-called trainers and physiotherapists, to make them comparable to Spanish or Italian law, which make incitement to doping practices a penal offence".

His comments came the day after confirmation from the B sample that American Tour de France winner Floyd Landis had tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone. Landis was immediately sacked by his Phonak team and is likely to lose his Tour title.

Scharping's proposals were welcomed by representatives of the German ProTour team T-Mobile and Tour of Germany organisers.

T-Mobile sacked leader Jan Ullrich before the start of the Tour after the 1997 champion was implicated in a doping investigation in Spain.