PARIS, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) – The battle against doping will remain a priority for the organizers of the Tour de France, according to Jean-Etienne Amaury, the new president of the race’s parent company Amaury Sports Organization (ASO).

Amaury, the son of the deceased founder of the multi-sport events company Philippe Amaury, has taken over the reins of ASO following the departure of former president Patrice Clerc.

After four years of feuding between the International Cycling Union (UCI) and ASO, the departure of Clerc is being seen as a new opportunity for the sport’s warring parties to work together.

But Amaury, two days after being appointed as Clerc’s successor, said Tour organizers would be working as hard as they have in recent years to take the battle to the cheats who have left a black mark on the race.

“Doping has compromised the credibility of cycling, and ASO and the Amaury group are well aware of that,” Amaury told AFP in an interview Friday.

“We will maintain our strict stance towards doping. These are ethical values that are fundamental to our (ASO) whole philosophy.

“As regards doping, nothing has changed. Our attitude remains the same.”

An agreement signed last week by ASO and the UCI could, in theory, finally end four years of conflict between both parties triggered by the UCI’s troubled Pro Tour series.

The feud led the Tour and other major race organizers to split from the Pro Tour, leaving the UCI overseeing a fragmented race calendar.

As a result, this year’s Tour de France was held under the auspices of the French cycling federation (FFC) – a decision which prompted the ire of the UCI, which in turn threatened to suspend the FFC.

Notably, however, the doping controls at the race were carried out by the French national anti-doping agency (AFLD) and not the UCI.

The AFLD’s efforts snared four riders, three of whom were using a new strain of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA, which was previously thought to be undetectable.

The UCI’s anti-doping chief Anne Gripper said last week the UCI expected to be in charge of carrying out doping controls at next year’s race, albeit by collaborating with the AFLD.

Amaury confirmed that the 2009 doping controls would be the task of the UCI, albeit under the watching eye of the AFLD.

“That was one of the stipulations in our agreement signed last week,” said Amaury.

“We will be watching closely to make sure the UCI collaborates in the best way possible with the AFLD.”

Amaury admitted the new agreement with the UCI contained no new specifics regarding the fight against drugs cheats, but he said the problem had to remain ASO’s number one priority.

“There is nothing specific (in the new agreement) relating to doping. As organizers, we can only collaborate as we have in the past with the sports authorities. We can’t govern,” he said.

“The agreement we have signed (with the UCI) will serve only as a platform from which we can begin to rebuild cycling in the months and years to come.

“We will give ourselves every possible weapon to fight doping.”