UCI backs Giro teams

MAROSTICA, Italy, May 19 (Reuters) - Cycling's ruling body said on Thursday
it supported the two teams being investigated by Italian drug squad officers
and called for anti-doping laws to be harmonised across the world.

Italian police searched the hotels and vehicles used by the Belgian
Davitamon and Spanish Saunier Duval teams during the Giro d'Italia on
Wednesday, seizing hyperbaric equipment and a quantity of intravenous drips

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While hyperbaric machines, which replicate high altitude environments, are
not illegal under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, they contravene stricter
Italian laws.

"The UCI would like to show its solidarity for the teams in the Giro
d'Italia, particularly Davitamon-Lotto and Saunier Duval-Prodir, as well as
for the doctors who must be able to continue doing their jobs while
respecting the law, of course, but also respecting their ethical
independence and responsibilities," the International Cycling Union said.

"While we fully respect Italian law, this situation shows the urgent need
for a true harmonisation of regulations covering the fight against doping,
which the UCI has demanded for a very long time ...

"The fact that Italy is the only country to prohibit devices like the
(hyperbaric) Alti-trainer doesn't prove anything. Except perhaps that it
would be judicious to reflect on the basis this difference between Italian
law, those of the sporting community and those of other countries," the UCI
statement said.

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Davitamon team doctor Daniel De Nieve has denied using doping products and
techniques.

"I'm officially under investigation but I haven't yet been accused of
anything," De Nieve said before the start of Thursday's 11th stage of the
Giro.

"There was a problem with interpretation of the Italian law concerning the
Alti-trainer (hyperbaric) machine and intravenous drips.

"According to Italian law the machine is not allowed but I didn't know it
was illegal because it's used by the Swiss Olympic Committee and other
Olympic committees because it's a very clean system and avoids athletes
using other things that are not clean.

"It's not on the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) banned list and it's not on
any list.

"It doesn't influence the blood levels but influences the speed in which the
oxygen is taken up and given away from your body. That's totally different
from significantly influencing the composition of the blood."

De Nieve added that he had intravenous drips to help riders suffering from
fatigue and rejected reports that 200 had been confiscated by police.

"At the meeting of the 22 team doctors at the start of the Giro in Reggio
Calabria, we said we needed intravenous drips to administer sugars, amino
acids," he said.

"The use of the drips is also open to a different interpretation by Italian
law. Drips are prohibited because they can manipulate and change the results
of doping controls but with the products we have you can't do that."

The Giro has been hit by a series of doping scandals in recent years. In
2001, police officers raided riders' hotel rooms seizing drugs and
medicines. Ten riders are on trial under Italy's strict anti-doping law
introduced in 2000.







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