UCI boss denies tipping Lance

Maastricht - The chief of the International Cycling Union has categorically denied that the sport's governing body ever hid a positive doping test by Lance Armstrong or that the organisation ever tipped off the seven-time Tour de France winner ahead of a doping test.

Pat McQuaid told delegates at the UCI's annual congress on Friday that the organisation "has never hidden a positive sample, not just of Lance Armstrong, but of any other athlete."

The UCI has not yet received the US Anti-Doping Agency file of evidence that led it to ban Armstrong for life and strip him of his seven tour titles.

McQuaid says that when he gets the report and if UCI lawyers find it "strong and clean," the organisation "will give the appropriate sanctions."