The doping problems that have engulfed cycling should not be a reason for the sport to be thrown out of the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee said.

Cycling has been rocked by a series of high-profile doping cases, including that of last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, that have severely undermined the sport's credibility and threatened to damage its worldwide appeal.

"My position and the position of the IOC is very clear - we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater," IOC president Jacques Rogge told reporters. "It is not the UCI that is cheating. It is the riders."

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