He returned to racing in the Regio Tour in Germany last week. This Criterium is one of the largest post-Tour races in France. It was clear from the time he was announced that he is still very popular in France. He said to the press: "I have enormous support. I thank them because it has helped me a lot."
He told the press that he had a good conscience and was slowly getting over the pressures of the incident. He said any attempts by the UCI to toughen up on illegal drug use would present him with "no problem." He said he had never cheated. He now will try to fulfill his frustrated ambitions at the Tour of Spain.
Ray Godkin, president of CA, has defended, what can only be seen as a controversial decision, by saying that he has never tested positive so: "As far as I'm concerned he's clean, he's always been clean and we have no problem with him at all. We welcome him into the team."
There are too many legal minefields in all of this so I will say no more.
The Australian teams selected are:
Men:
Track: Danny Day, Sean Eadie, Nigel Grigg, Darryn Hill, Shane Kelly, Joshua Kersten, Brett Lancaster, Timothy Lyons, Stephen Pate, Bradley McGee, Luke Roberts, Michael Rogers (one to be omitted)
Road: Stuart O'Grady, Neil Stephens, Peter Rogers, Matt White, Jay Sweet, Scott McGrory.
Women:
Track: Lucy Tyler-Sharman, Lyndelle Higginson, Michelle Ferris, Michelle Ferris, Alayna Burns, Karen Barrow,
Road: Anna Wilson, Kathy Watt, Tracey Gaudry, Juanita Feldhahn, Elizabeth Tadich.
Anyway, in contrast, the rival Channel 7 runs a Sunday morning program called "Sportsworld". On Sunday, August 9, 1998 its presenter the doyen of sport's commentators, Bruce McAvaney gave his "no-thrills, straight to camera, editorial item" - without any interuptions from pictures of blokes pulling on yellow jerseys. Bruce is reknowned for his serious approach. This is what he had to say:
Yesterday, Cycling Australia, which governs the sport in this country, distributed a press release regarding a number of disturbing events threatening to destroy the sport. Suggestions of discrimination by the coach, Charlie Walsh, against some cyclists and claims of sexual harassment against another official were top of the agenda. Cycling Australia, in conjunction with the Australian Sports Commission, agreed to send a senior member of the ASC, Geoff Strang, to the teams base in Colorado Springs to investigate the claims. Yesterday's release said that the allegations were not substantiated and no further action was required. In short, what it said, was everything in cycling is rosy. We believe that to be no where near the case.
Reference has already been made that Lucy Tyler-Sharman, and her husband fellow cyclist Graham, asked, and were given permission, to leave the squad and to train elsewhere in the U.S. What has not been made public is that crack sprinter Darryn Hill decided he too was better off away from the squad. There have been reports that Charlie Walsh has signed a document stating that he will welcome Lucy, Graham and Darryn back in the squad when the team arrives in Germany on Tuesday. And has agreed to provide the level of support as head coach to enable them to continue preparations for the world championships and the Commonwealth Games.
What hasn't been made public is at least one of these cyclists has already written a letter stating that they want to continue training with the squad but that they do not want to be coached by Charlie Walsh. My question is this. How can you say everything is rosy when at least one cyclist doesn't want to be coached by the Australian coach ?
Now to the sexual harassment claim. We believe this claim was made by a male cyclist against a male official within the team. However, we understand the official has never seen a copy of the complaint, and strenuously denies the claim. We also believe that other cyclists - some who have been retired for more than a decade - are being asked to come forward with similar complaints. Still think the sports rosy ?
And now to a bigger issue. Yesterday the executive director of the Australian Sports Commission, Jim Ferguson, denied reports that some athletes had refused drug tests. Mr Ferguson is correct. It is one thing to refuse a drug test, but our information is this. We believe a request was made to drug-test ALL members of the national cycling team where ever they may be - as is normal practice. And a request was made by an official within the cycling unit. But we also believe that attempts to complete all tests were unsuccessful. It's worth pointing out that one particular athlete, who wasn't tested, is guilty of nothing. We are simply saying that a number of attempts to carry out the test were unsuccessful. We can understand why cycling wouldn't want these issues made public with the world championships and the Commonwealth Games just around the corner. But don't tell us that everything is rosy when clearly that's not the case. However, Geoff Strang, from the Australian Sports Commission has told us that there will be a full inquiry when the team returns from overseas.
1. (1) Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 2961 points 2. (2) Alex Zülle (Swi) 2196 3. (3) Michele Bartoli (Ita) 2097 4. (4) Marco Pantani (Ita) 1961 5. (8) Francesco Casagrande (Ita) 1566 6. (5) Laurent Dufaux (Swi) 1523 7. (9) Andrea Tafi (Ita) 1438 8. (6) Andrei Tchmil (Bel) 1405 9. (10) Michael Boogerd (Ned) 1279 10. (11) Jan Ullrich (Ger) 1243
Elites: 1. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 2. Janek Tombak (Est) Vendee U 3. Andres Lauk (Est) Turku ULFrom Janno Toots, Estonia
Anderson, a member of the New Zealand National Team and holder of "T-Town's" 10 mile record, lost control of his bicycle after an exchange with his partner and veered into the awards podium. In minutes, the Trexlertown fire police, firefighters, medics and ambulance staff were on site and handling the situation. Anderson's crash occured during the final race of the night, the 120-lap Madison feature. After approximately 10 laps following the accident, the racers, Velodrome staff and officials decided to call the race. Anderson was then transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital by the MedeVac Helicopter.
Prior to the accident, there was some terrific racing that took place at the premiere cycling Velodrome in North America. In the other men's action, the madison teams contested a variety of events. The tandem of Stephen Pate and Brent Dawson took the first 60-lap madison event and the madison miss-and-out. During the flying one-lap, the duo of Gary Anderson and Darren McKenzie-Potter floored the fans with a very fast time of 19.47 seconds.
Women's action saw the best international field take to the track for the 1998 season. Racing in the Lehigh Valley for the first time in 1998, Lucy Tyler-Sharman and the New Zealand National Team, which included Fiona Rammage and Sara Ulmer, and hometown sensation Tanya Lindenmuth lined up for the women's events. Tyler-Sharman, nursing a cold, still managed to place second in the 10-lap final and lead the pack for most of the race.
Madison Cup - 60 laps: 1. Pate-Dawson 2. Carswell-Henderson 3. Hodskiss-Dew 4. Anderson-McKenzie-Potter 5. Fronheiser-Coulton Women 10 lap Final: 1. Fiona Rammage 2. Lucy Tyler-Sharman 3. Narelle Peterson 4. Tanya Lindenmuth 5. Sara Ulmer Madison Cup Flying Lap with sling: 1. Anderson-McKenzie-Potter 2. Pate-Dawson 3. Hodskiss-Dew 4. Carswell-Henderson 5. Fronheiser-Coulton Women 12-lap tempo race: 1. Rawea Greenwood 2. Sara Ulmer 3. Narelle Peterson 4. Fiona Rammage 5. Liz Reap Madison Cup - Team Miss and Out: 1. Pate-Dawson 2. Carswell-Henderson 3. Hodskiss-Dew 4. Gould-Boone 5. Anderson-McKenzie-Potter Madison Cup - 120 lap Madison: * 1. Pate-Dawson 2. Carswell-Henderson 3. Hodskiss-Dew 4. Anderson-McKenzie-Potter 5. Boone-Gould * Race was neutralized at 78 laps to go