UCI won't ban Tour de France riders from Beijing Olympics

(BEIJING, June 5) -- Despite a long dispute between Tour de France organizer ASO and the International Cycling Union (UCI), UCI President Pat McQuaid assured Tour riders on Wednesday that they would not be banned from the Beijing Olympics.

Irritated by the ASO’s decision to hold the Tour de France July 5-27 outside of the UCI’s rules, the UCI had warned that “riders and teams will, by participating, expose themselves to sanctions."

But McQuaid made clear that a ban from the Olympics would not be among the disciplinary measures. "No matter how grave the situation might be, or how disloyal we feel the French federation has been to the UCI, I don't see the Olympic Games being touched," he told the Associated Press on Wednesday.