Chief resigns from doping agency

The president of the International Cycling Union is to resign from the World Anti-Doping Agency, because he feels his sport has been unfairly singled out for criticism.

Hein Verbruggen has been a member of the WADA since it was founded in 1999.

The agency co-ordinates anti-doping testing internationally.

In the most public disagreement between the UCI and WADA, the two bodies disagreed during this year's Tour de France over the results of a drug test on Spanish rider Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano.

The UCI said the rider had permission to take the drug salbutamol, which is used to treat asthma, but a WADA official said the level discovered was so high that it should be treated as positive.

Enrico Carpani, spokesman for world cycling's governing body, said Verbruggen had already made up his mind to quit the WADA before the Gonzalez de Galdeano incident.

"He was a bit tired of seeing that cycling was always the target of critics and he didn't feel at ease in this association," Carpani said.

Carpani said the UCI was convinced that it was doing more than enough to combat doping and should not be unfairly criticised.

"Tell me which other sport carried out 13,000 doping tests last year? Tell me which other sport spent $5m (€5.09m) on anti-doping measures?" he said.