(Reuters) - The International Cycling Union (UCI) has no intention of appealing against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles but is still waiting to receive USADA's case file, UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Friday.
USADA said on August 24 that Armstrong, who won the Tour from 1999-2005, was banned for life and was facing the loss of his titles after the Texan said he would not fight the agency's charges that he had doped throughout his career.
"The UCI has no reason to assume that a full case file does not exist. They (USADA) have a full case file so let them provide the full case file," McQuaid told Reuters by telephone.
"And unless the USADA's decision and case file give serious reasons to do otherwise, the UCI has no intention to appeal to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) or not to recognize the USADA's sanctions on Lance Armstrong."
However, the UCI is still waiting for USADA's reasoned decision and the case file it requested.
"We need to examine the decision and the file in order to deal with it properly and this is going to take some time. However, I can assure you that this will be prioritized," the Irishman said.
"The reason the UCI is seeking the file is that we want to provide a timely response and not delay matters any further than necessary. The sooner we receive the full decision and case file the sooner we can provide its response."
Should the reasoned decision and the case file come to the UCI within two weeks as he expects, McQuaid said they could be examined at the governing body's management committee on September 19-20.
McQuaid also wants to look into the riders who allegedly have testified against Armstrong in exchange for a reduced sentence on past doping offences.
"The UCI assumes that the decision and file will also detail the sanction the USADA may wish to enforce upon the riders who have provided testimony in exchange for reduced sanctions," he said.
McQuaid addressed former Armstrong team mate Tyler Hamilton's book, "The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at All Costs", in which the American reiterates a claim that Armstrong had failed a dope test in 2001 but that it was covered up by the UCI.
"There is nothing new. There was no cover up in 2001 and we see no evidence to support such allegation," he said.
McQuaid also asked the USADA to provide the UCI with three Garmin-Barracuda riders' files after their own team manager Jonathan Vaughters hinted this month that they had doped earlier in their careers.
"We need to see if Jonathan Vaughter's accusations have any substance so we can see if we take action against these riders," said McQuaid.
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