Interviewed by Velonews in his office in Aigle, Switzerland, UCI president Brian Cookson has made his position clear about recent doping issues. The goal is to eradicate the problem but he confirmed that this fight is not really easy."People would just think you say, ‘Get him or her out of the sport because they did X, Y, or Z.’ It isn’t that simple", he said.

"Let’s take Bjarne Riis. Anti‑Doping Denmark performed a long-term investigation into him and have not been able to take any action against him. All his admitted offenses are outside the statute of limitations. It’s very difficult to penalize or sanction somebody for something that is outside of that period because then inevitably that person challenges it. We have to take action that is legally defensible." 

A second ban for the same offense is contrary to the concept of double jeopardy, present in most legal systems throughout the world. If an individual has served his or her ban for a given offense, they cannot be penalized again for the same offense.

"I don’t defend them, but I think you have to allow them the possibility of redemption, as well. I almost hate hearing myself say those words, because I would love to say, ‘You know what? If you’re a doper, you’re out,’ but actually implementing that is very, very difficult. To be realistic about it, and I think we haven’t got the right answer yet, we have to find ways of making assessments about people’s genuine contrition and their … Whether they are deserving of redemption or not."