Cycling: Federation forces Festina out of world championships

THE FESTINA cycling team, thrown out of the Tour de France amid doping allegations, will miss next month's world championships after the French Cycling Federation yesterday decided to adjourn disciplinary procedures against them.

Daniel Baal, the FFC's president, announced the decision at a Paris press conference and explained that the Federation had opted for a delay because judicial authorities had forced their hand.

"Because the judicial authorities have not authorised the FFC to use the verbal depositions of those charged, either as civil parties or merely as witnesses, the FFC believes it cannot exercise its disciplinary power.

"For these reasons, it is adjourning the said procedures," Baal explained. He added that the procedure remained open and that, because the riders still stood to receive disciplinary measures from the International Cycling Union, the sport's ruling body, "they will not be able to be selected for the world championship".

The German sprinter Marcel Wust struck again in the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain yesterday from Burgos to Leon.

Wust's fast finish took him clear of Spain's Angel Edo with the Russian Sergei Smetanine third in a mass sprint. But this win in the stage from Burgos came nowhere near the record pace of the German's first victory last Saturday, when he averaged 51.137kph at Zaragoza to set the fastest average for a road race stage in any of the three major tours.

Yesterday, however, headwinds slowed times in the 188.5km stage and nothing disturbed the overall lead of Spain's Abraham Olano, who is still 22 seconds clear of Laurent Jalabert of France.