Monday, January 24, 2011

Matt White wins, gets sacked for 'referring' Trent Lowe to dodgy USPS team doctor?

Who knows. Was it really because of this 'referral' or was it at least partly because of his suggested 2012 'GreenEdge' connection? Vaughters has certainly played down any speculation about doping, or about a potential GreenEdge or Aussie national team conflict. It has to be said also that Matt White tested clean as a rider and whilst speculation has surrounded his past racing connections it has not amounted to anything more that. So his 'referral' of Trent Lowe (ex-Discovery as well as Garmin-Transitions) can be taken at face value - an arguably poor choice of doctor.

Whilst White's past employment with the US Postal team is well known, there's really nothing proven (in a negative way) about that outfit. The US Postal team has certainly copped flack (read speculation), especially since morphing into Discovery and latterly into Radio Shack - not for what it achieved as a pro cycling squad that successfully launched Lance Armstrong to successive Tour victories - but for what has happened to many of their riders since. The list is long, including Landis and most recently Contador. Sure, it's speculation, but like mud - it sticks. 

No suggestion of who will replace White but Henrik Redant (ex Pegasus) is probably available. I'm sure there are several aspirants polishing their CVs...

SBS: Cycling Central : Garmin-Cervelo sacks White
It has just come to the attention of Slipstream Sports Board of Directors that in April 2009, Matt White referred former rider, Trent Lowe, to the Sports Institute of Valencia to Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral.
Garmin-Cervelo Fires Team Director Matt White | This Just In
Del Moral is the former ONCE and US Postal team doctor who has recently been accused of participating in systematic team doping by Floyd Landis. Former Kelme rider Jesus Manzano also claimed that he collaborated with his Kelme doctor Walter Viru, so that his USPS riders knew when International Cycling Union (UCI) doctors would visit the team for random drug testing.

Del Moral denies the charges.
Garmin-Cervelo Fires Team Director Matt White | This Just In
Vaughters added that despite the Spanish doctors controversial reputation, he is convinced that White sent Lowe to see Del Moral for legitimate reasons. “Moral runs a government-funded lab in Valencia. Lowe lived in Valencia and clearly needed body composition and VO2 testing and this was the closest place for him to go. But it showed extremely poor judgment on White’s part and a slap on the wrist is not a solution in this day and age of cycling.”
Trent Lowe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trent Lowe (born 8 October 1984 in Melbourne) is a professional road bicycle racer from Australia. He rode for Garmin-Transitions on the UCI ProTour from 2008 to 2010. Lowe was one of only two Australians on the Slipstream Squad, the other being Chris 'CJ' Sutton who came from Cofidis in 2007. The former full-time professional mountain biker had a breakthrough year on the road in 2005 riding for the US domestic team, Jittery Joe's, where he caught eye of Discovery Channel sports manager Johan Bruyneel. He was signed for Discovery Channel for his superior climbing abilities. In 2002 he won the UCI MTB World Junior XC Championship, then he won the under-23 Australian National Mountain Bike Championship in 2003 and 2004.

Following 2 seasons of injury and chronic fatigue, the young climber signed with the new Australian team, Pegasus, [1] before the announcement that they has failed to obtain an 2011 UCI World Tour license.
Matt White (cyclist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After 2 years with the Australian GIANT-AIS Cycling Team, White then went through Italian teams Amore e Vita (1998) and Vini Caldirola (1999) before finding himself on the US Postal Service team from 2001 through to 2003. In this period White was not selected to ride the Tour de France with Lance Armstrong but did ride the 2003 Vuelta a EspaƱa in support of Roberto Heras. [2] In 2004, Matthew moved to the French Cofidis team to join fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady.