Mueller resigns from Cycling Australia presidency

Klaus Mueller has stepped down from his role as president of Cycling Australia, with the decision announced at the organisation's two-day board meeting in Sydney.

Mueller has held the role since December 2009 having previously been vice president for six years prior. The barrister said the time was right to resign from his position given the increasing demands of what is a voluntary, un-paid role.

"It's been an honour to lead Cycling Australia through many highs and lows. In recent times the position has grown into almost a full time role, which I can simply no longer manage. Given the challenges the sport is currently facing the timing is right to hand the reigns over to a new leader with a different skill set to enable the sport to realise its enormous commercial potential."

A nominations committee has been appointed to oversee the candidates for the role, with Mueller to vacate his position at the end of September. Cycling Australia will work with the Australian Sports Commission during the process, with the governing body working through a governance overhaul as recommended by former New South Wales Supreme Court chief judge James Wood due by the end of this year under the threat of funding cuts.

Mueller said that policy reform over his tenure was something that he was particularly proud of.

"I have and will continue to push for change within the UCI to ensure that the tarnished international reputation of the sport is restored," he explained. "I've spent the past eight years lobbying for expanded powers for ASADA and I'm particularly proud of the fact that CA's High Performance program has continued to be run ethically and successfully."

Mueller came under fire in the wake of the USADA report into Lance Armstrong and his associates which claimed the scalp of Australian national elite men's sports director Matt White.

"We had a discussion with ASADA, and they indicated to us that they had no current issue which would embarrass us in continuing to employ Matt," Mueller said in an October press conference after White was sacked.

Mueller claimed that the relationship between Cycling Australia and the Australian Anti-Doping Authority had been an effective one despite never having asked White about his doping past until the USADA report was made public and the revelations of the on-going case of un-named rider ZXTT.

Cycling Australia is currently waiting on ASADA's report into the sport which was launched in response to the USADA report late last year.