McQuaid calls for drug war

UCI President Pat McQuaid said he was shocked and angry when he found out about Tour de France winner Floyd Landis's positive doping test, particularly as he believed the disqualification of riders before the start of the race would dissuade others.

"We're going to proceed with an audit of the professional level to try to define the causes of this illness," McQuaid told the Swiss weekly L'Illustre.

"We will call on the biggest specialists in the world to make this study credible.

"All the elements will be taken into account: the structures of the teams, management of the calendar, the length of courses, accumulation of evidence, number of rest days," McQuaid said.

He also revealed that depending on the results of the investigation, UCI could change all its rules and working methods from the 2008 season onwards.

"The Landis case, in this consideration, carries a clear and strong message for those who have the intelligence to decode it. For the UCI, the time for easy excuses or for forgiveness is past. It's all-out war against doping," he said.