Yates and De Jongh out of Team Sky

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Two of Team Sky's sports directors Sean Yates and Steven de Jongh have been released from the team, according to a report in The Telegraph.

It appears the pair have become the latest casualties of the team's reaffirmed zero tolerance anti-doping policy, which asked all staff and riders to sign a declaration confirming that they have no past or present involvement in doping. Anyone who did not sign the declaration would be dismissed, although it's understood they would be financially compensated. Anyone who did not sign but is subsequently found to have lied about past doping practices will be fired immediately. 

The Telegraph report suggests that all the riders on the Team Sky roster for 2013 have signed the declaration and so none will be forced to immediately leave the team.

It's unclear as to what involvement in doping the pair had. Yates rode with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on Motorola until he retired in 1996 and served as sports director for Armstrong's Discovery Channel team and for Astana between 2005-2009.

De Jongh rode for TVM, who were raided by police in the 1998 Tour de France, Rabobank (2000-2005) and QuickStep (2006-2009).

Yates and De Jongh follow coach Bobby Julich, who recently confessed to doping and was shown the door. The team also did not renew its  contract with Dr Geert Leinders, who has been linked to doping allegations in the Rabobank team.