Senior Australian cycling figure assisted injection, alleges Vinnicombe

Former Australian track cyclist Martin Vinnicombe has alleged a current senior member of the Australian cycling community assisted him to inject an illegal substance ahead of a major international race. That name was redacted in his interview with the ABC.

"It was known that you'd have a sudden drop in blood pressure, therefore you needed someone there to assist you," Vinnicombe told the ABC's 7.30 Report. "And at that case - at that time, (name redacted) was a person that I trusted and thought that he would assist me and he did so, he did that."

"He was present in the room and...Yes, he was there with me and made sure that I had done [the injection]."

Vinnicombe also suggests there are "people existing in cycling at the moment in powerful positions that at one point in their careers were exposed to doping and knew about doping methods." The silver medal winner at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games tested positive for steroids in 1991 and was handed a two-year ban before a court reversed the decision in light of the medical treatment he was receiving at the time.

In his account with the ABC, Vinnicombe admits to injecting substances when often being unaware to the exact contents. He says however, he didn’t "think it was water" but the pressure placed on him as a rider made it near impossible to reject.

The now 47-year-old kept a detailed account of his injecting schedule which was, according to the former cyclist, provided to him with instructions on when to take the substances.

"The things that were illegal, we don't even know what they were and we don't even know if they were illegal," he told the ABC.

"When you're in a team environment, you do as you're told, because you're constantly under pressure, the pressure is relentless and there are always other people who will take your place.

"Ya either get out of the kitchen or ya start cookin'. Yeah, that's it," he said.