Hein Verbruggen, the president of the International Union of Cycling (UCI), has called for an inquiry into the reported discovery of drugs in a TVM team car in March.

Referring to the case that appears to bear all the hallmarks of the scandal that has engulfed the Festina team Verbruggen said yesterday: "We will treat this case in the same way. If it's the same situation as it was for Monsieur Roussel (Festina's team director who has admitted supplying drugs to his team) we will take the same action."

The TVM affair, which has just come to light, centred on the finding by French customs officials of 104 syringes primed with the banned drug EPO in a TVM car being driven by two team mechanics towards the Belgian border at a motorway toll in Courcy.

Verbruggen added: "Doping is like crime in our sport. Crime exists in society. We combat it but we cannot eradicate it completely. There is always some cheating. It's unfortunate, it's bad for the sport, but why should sport be different from society?"

Verbruggen's comments followed his meeting with cycling sports directors in Pau after the ninth stage in the Tour de France.

The directors called for the immediate introduction of anti-drug controls scheduled to start on January 1st, 1999.

The former Belgian national champion Alain Vandenbossche admitted to a Belgian newspaper yesterday that he had used erythropoietin for a year while riding for the Dutch TVM team.

Meanwhile, Bernard Hinault yesterday declared that the banned Festina riders basically got what they deserved and another, Laurent Fignon, defending them as pawns in the game.

For good measure the country's sports minister, MarieGeorge Buffet, blamed rampant commercialism and said she would push for jail terms of up to 14 years for those who distribute the drugs.