Australian cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE are backing team director Matt White after he was implicated in the Lance Armstrong doping case.
It has emerged that White is apparently the unidentified “Rider 9” mentioned in an affidavit from Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis.
In the evidence, Landis says he shared banned human growth hormone with Canadian cyclist Michael Barry and Rider 9 while they were training for the 2003 Tour of Spain.
All were racing for Armstrong’s US Postal team at the time.
White is one of the main management figures at Orica-GreenEDGE, who made their debut this year and competed in the Tour de France.
He also managed the Australian men’s road cycling team at the London Olympics and is the Cycling Australia men’s road coordinator.
“We fully support Matthew White and trust his integrity as a sports director with us,” team general manager Shayne Bannan said in a statement.
“We have become aware of the fact the he has been linked to some of the evidence in the report about the US Postal Team and we are in contact with Matt to seek full clarity as to what this is about.
“We will comment once we have been able to talk to both Matt White and the relevant Australian authorities.”
Landis lost the 2006 Tour de France title after he was caught doping and Barry has also testified against Armstrong.
The affidavit implicating White is part of a large body of evidence that the US Anti-Doping Agency made public this week.
Armstrong, the record seven-time Tour de France champion, is facing a lifetime ban after saying he would not contest that charges that USADA have brought against him.
But he still fiercely proclaims his innocence, calling the case a witch hunt.
CA president Klaus Mueller said in a statement on Friday that they were unsure whether any Australians were named in the USADA evidence.
He said it would take time to go through all the evidence.
sittingbison
Guest
the real problem for cycling is not White per se, its that Bannan immediately backed White without qualification: “We FULLY SUPPORT Matthew White and TRUST HIS INTEGRITY as a sports director with us,” team general manager Shayne Bannan said. This AFTER the release of the Reasoned Decision AND the evidence into the greatest fraud in sporting history. Bannan should be immediately stood down from any formal position within Australian Cycling.
yewonk
Guest
uci are as rotten as the riders, keep this in mind, this is only one team from which the evidence has come from, and there reasoning was everyone else was doing it. so if everyone else was doing it who in uci do you think knew?
Jason Cave
Guest
Cycling should take a year off to repair and restore its tarnished image. It would give the UCI to weed out the 'bad eggs' from the sport-which means no Tour de France or in Australia's case, no Tour Down Under or Herald Sun Tours for 12 months.
Jimbo
Guest
I think anyone who doubts the value of the Armstrong investigation should look to this case. A doper and someone who was fired by Jonathan Vaughters for recommending a rider visit Spanish doctor Luis Garcia del Moral has been ejected from the sport. As he was working with many upcoming Australian riders, this can only be considered a good thing for going some way towards ridding cycling of it's doping culture. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
frazer
Guest
cycling will never be clean everyone knows that, is there a clean rider out there I doubt it, give Armstrong back his 7 wins, remove the sport from the olympics, let them carry on and enjoy it for what it is.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
White has now resigned. "I am aware my name has been mentioned during talks that USADA has had with former team mates of mine in their investigation regarding doping activities at the US Postal Service team. I am sad to say that I was part of a team where doping formed part of the team's strategy, and I too was involved in that strategy. My involvement is something I am not proud of and I sincerely apologise to my fans, media, family and friends who trusted me and also to other athletes in my era that consciously chose not to dope."
MV Dave
Guest
So this guy White was happy to keep quiet and hope the whole Armstrong scandal would go away? It was only after all the evidence came out that he has decided to fess up? Great leadership (not) for a guy in a supervisory capacity at Cycling Australia! Not only a cheat but one happy to let others take the blame.