UCI president Brian Cookson has come out in support of the Russian Cycling Federation after the recent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report that investigated athletics and revealed the doping network that existed in Russian Athletics.

"I have always had concerns about all nations and all teams in our sport. I think it would be foolish of me to say I didn't have any concerns about any particular geography, any particular country, any particular branch of our sport. But I'm confident that the people running the Russian Cycling Federation are trying to do the right thing and I'm sure that if there were any problems there, they would not want to cover them up at all. But, at the moment, I'm not aware of anything specific and, if and when I was, I would take appropriate action," Cookson told Sky Sports News.

The UCI and the RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) have clear ties. Igor Makarov, who owns the WorldTour Katusha team, was key to helping Cookson become UCI president in 2013. His company, Itera, are sponsors of the European Cycling Union. After Cookson was elected, Nikita Kamaev, the executive director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was installed on the UCI's Anti-Doping Commission.

When asked if he would ask the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) to investigate Russia, he says that isn’t his call as CADF operates as an entirely different entity to the UCI.

"We have truly independent processes here [at the UCI] - the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation, the Anti-Doing Tribunal, the legal service. All that happens without my direct involvement,” Cookson said. "I don't ask them to target anybody or any nation or team, and equally, I don't tell them not to target any team or nation or individual."