Thomas Bach, a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), made his suggestion that cycling be dropped after two more cases of doping during the Tour de France were exposed.

 

Stage winners Leonardo Piepoli of Italy and Stefan Schumacher of Germany from the race held earlier this year tested positive for doping from blood samples taken during the Tour, officials announced yesterday.

 

The pair became the second and third riders to test positive for CERA (Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator), an advanced version of the blood booster EPO (Erythropoietin).

 

Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco has already admitted to CERA use.

 

"This is dramatic because it shows that cycling is far away from achieving a change of consciousness," Thomas Bach told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine.

 

"The stupid boldness apparently is continuing."

 

If the B-samples confirm the original findings, cycling will have lost all credibility, Bach claimed.

 

He said: "We have to ask ourselves whether it is not the time to order a pause for thought [from the Olympics] for cycling."

 

What should concern cycling officials most is that Bach is the man tipped to succeed Jacques Rogge as the President of the IOC and wields a considerable amount of influence.

 

Cycling, along with the 25 other sports that are due to form the programme for London 2012, is up for election at the IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009.

 

In addition, seven other sports are trying to win election onto the programme, including baseball and softball, dropped from 2012 following a vote by the IOC at its Session in Singapore in July 2005, and rugby, which has not appeared in the Olympics since 1924.

 

Cycling has appeared at every Modern Olympics since they started in 1896 and in Beijing this year Britain topped the medals table.

 

They won 14 medals, including gold and silver in the pursuit for Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel (pictured).

 

Romero's victory was one of eight gold medals Britain won during the Games.

 

That helped make them the third most successful country ever in the Games behind France and Italy, two countries who have had several riders implicated in major doping scandals in recent years.

 

Track cycling, where Britain has enjoyed its greatest success, has not been afflicted as badly by the drugs epidemic as road racing.

 

Britain's programme is also acknowledged to be the cleanest in the world with British Cycling adopting a zero-tolerance, regularly testing its top riders.

 

David Millar, the former world champion, was dropped from the programme after he admitted using EPO and, under the rules of the British Olympic Association, is banned from ever competing for the country again in the Games.