Cycling federations discuss the state of cycling

The cycling federations of seven countries, Austria, Belgium, France, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain met on Thursday to brainstorm for solutions to the biggest issues facing the sport in preparation for the UCI congress in September. The federations view doping issues and the ProTour as the issues which need immediate attention.

In a joint statement, the federations supported the efforts of the UCI in their efforts to clean up the sport from its doping problems, but indicated that more needs to be done. "We want to accentuate the fact that the biggest problem affronting the sport is doping," statement read, according to AP. "We support the UCI and the institutions in their efforts and we hope that the antidoping rules are applied with the maximum rigor. "

The statement called on the teams as well as all of the national federations to "reinforce their efforts to battle this problem."

Issues surrounding the ProTour and its conflict with the Grand Tours was also high on the list of priorities. The federations are hoping for reform of the sport's largest series. "We recognise that the ProTour presents some positive aspects, but it must be altered from its current state," the statement read.