Pat McQuaid's rhetoric this week had a familiar ring. It was big on the sense of hurt cycling has had to endure over recent findings and small on addressing the facts of what French newspapers damningly called "Doping On Prescription."

Basically an independent body called the French Council for the Prevention of Doping (FCPD) tested riders on the recent Tour De France and found that 45 per cent of them tested positive for banned substances. McQuaid argues that because all but two riders had medical certificates for the performance enhancing substances and that the amounts found were small, there is no serious problem.

When almost half of the riders need prescription drugs (which are on the IOC banned list) to complete the biggest race on earth and a senior member of Union Cycliste Internationale says that there is no problem, it seems to overlook the fact that two years ago the Tour came crashing down over endemic and systematic drug taking.

The staggering arrogance of the riders towards police searches and the mantra by cycling officials that they had the problem under control was as hollow then as it appears to be now. Cycling is fighting a losing public relations battle. The sport has zero credibility at professional level and we are now being asked to believe that blizzards of doctor's prescriptions should convince us that the culture has changed in a meaningful way. Roll on next year.