Cycling 'unlikely' to lose Olympic status despite Lance Armstrong scandal, says IOC

IT IS "very unlikely" cycling will be thrown out of the 2016 Rio Games, despite the fall-out from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, says the IOC.

THE International Olympic Committee says it's "very unlikely" cycling will be thrown out of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, despite the fall-out from the Lance Armstrong doping affair.

The fall of the disgraced Texan has thrown the spotlight on the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union, which has been accused of covering up for the American and helping him evade positive tests.

The UCI has changed its opposition to offering amnesty to riders and officials who appear at its own inquiry into the Armstrong era and that will strengthen support for the sport to stay in the Games.

"In the last years, the UCI has battled strongly in the fight against doping. An eventual exclusion of cycling from the Olympic program is very unlikely," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

IOC member Dick Pound had suggested cycling could be dumped from the Olympics if Armstrong implicated the sport's governing body in covering up widespread doping.

---

LANCE v OPRAH - TOMORROW

Join us for complete coverage of the explosive Lance Armstrong interview tomorrow from 1pm AEDT.

Live chat - Instant analysis from Leo Schlink - Video highlights

The interview with Armstrong will be shown live in Australia on the Discovery Channel on Foxtel

---

Pound, a former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency said: "We could say, look, you've clearly got a problem why don't we give you four years, eight years to sort it out.

"And when you think you're ready come on back we'll see whether it would be a good idea to put you back on the program."

Armstrong was banned from cycling for life and stripped of his record seven Tour de France wins last year after revelations by the US Anti-Doping Agency that he was at the heart of the biggest doping program in the history of sport.

Cycling was plunged into crisis, amid allegations the UCI turned a blind eye to widespread doping in the peloton in the 1990s and early to mid-2000s.

Armstrong is expected to confess to cheating in a television interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey to be aired tomorrow (AEDT).

"It is premature to discuss the subject until the interview has been broadcast," Adams added.

"Once it (the program) has and once the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) and UCI make their reactions, we will have a better idea as to the next step in the process."

Cycling's governing body now says it is willing to offer amnesty to riders and officials who provide information to its independent panel on doping, as long as the process is deemed to be in line with the WADA code.

The UCI had been criticised by anti-doping bodies over the terms of the independent inquiry into its links with Armstrong.

After previously refusing to offer amnesties, the UCI said it was now prepared to do so if it does not violate the WADA rules.

The commission will meet next week to discuss the possibility of providing amnesties to witnesses who appear at the panel's hearings in London in April.

"The UCI confirms that it will be informing the commission at the hearing next week that it is willing to provide the necessary assurances to those coming forward with evidence .... provided WADA confirms that such assurances would be consistent with the letter and spirit of the WADA Code or, if not, makes the necessary changes to the Code," the body said in a statement.

The US Anti-Doping Agency submitted a "truth and reconciliation proposal" after the release of its report last October into doping by Armstrong and his teams.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from Olympic sports for life.

The UCI originally opposed the proposal for amnesties because, among other things, there was no provision for such clemency in the WADA code.

On Tuesday, WADA and the US Anti-Doping Agency withdrew co-operation with the independent probe because of the UCI's position. The doping agencies say past and current riders and officials won't feel free to come forward unless they are given full or partial amnesties.

The independent panel set up by the UCI came out publicly on Wednesday against the governing body's resistance.

"The commission is of the view that such a process would be in the interests not only of the Inquiry, but also of professional cycling as a whole," said the panel, which is composed of retired British judge Philip Otton, Paralympic great Tanni-Grey Thompson and Australian lawyer Malcolm Holmes.

The UCI said it has told WADA it would be willing to take part in a truth and reconciliation process covering all endurance sports, not just cycling.

At the same time, the UCI insisted the independent panel should only investigate the governing body's "alleged complicity in the alleged doping of Lance Armstrong" and the disgraced rider's Tour de France teams.

"The role of the commission is not to act as a doping confessional," it said.

In 1000 pages of evidence and testimony from former Armstrong teammates, USADA raised allegations that the UCI protected and collaborated with the sport's top rider during his years dominating the Tour de France.