Cycling Australia board to meet after White's confession

The Cycling Australia board will meet this week as the fallout from the USADA evidence in their case against Lance Armstrong and his associates from the U.S. Postal Service continues.

Three Australians, now-retired Matt White, Michael Rogers and Allan Davis are named within the evidence with White the men's professional road coordinator and Orica-GreenEdge sports director stepping down from his roles after admitting his doping past. GreenEdge rider Davis has been named in relation to Operacion Puerto, despite having previously been cleared, while Team Sky's Rogers was named by Levi Leipheimer as having been at a Tenerife training camp run by Dr Michele Ferrari.

In recent days, Cycling Australia President Klaus Mueller has raised the possibility of an amnesty while also supporting jail terms for drug cheats.

"I think it's time all these ideas were put back on the table for discussion, not just in relation to cycling, but across the wider sporting landscape," he said on Sunday.

"Our members and fans have every right to feel disillusioned and angry and I share that disappointment," said Mr Mueller. "However our priority now must be to work with the thousands of cyclists and fans to safeguard the future of this sport for the vast majority who have done nothing wrong and who deserve our support."

Mueller recognised that not all relevant information will be available for this week's meeting in reference to the USADA case however, a discussion was needed about Cycling Australia's processes in place for the appointment of staff.

"Are we asking the questions we should be in light of this week's revelations and if not then we need to make sure in future we do."

In 2011, days after White's role with the national body was announced, Cycling Australia launched an investigation into his dismissal by Garmin-Cervélo for breaching team policy after he referred rider Trent Lowe to Dr Luis del Moral's sports clinic in Valencia. White was able to continue his role with the high performance program after it was found that he had "an error of judgement", according to a statement by Cycling Australia CEO Graham Fredericks.
 

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As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.

 

Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.