 |  | |
 Enlarge | By Jae C. Hong, AP | |
| ||
| Lance Armstrong speaks about his comeback during a cycling convention in Las Vegas earlier this week. On Saturday, the UCI explained that Armstrong might be ineligible to race in January, the month he has proposed returning to action at an Australia event. | ||
Riders coming out of retirement need to be in the sport's anti-doping program for six months before being allowed to race. The UCI will discuss with the U..S anti-doping agency over the coming days whether Armstrong has met that requirement, perhaps through national notification. UCI said it will make a decision next week.
UCI president Pat McQuaid said Saturday that "the rules must be respected."
The Tour Down Under is set for Jan. 20-25.
Under the increasingly stringent anti-doping program of the International Cycling Union, rule 77 decides when riders can actually start their comeback in official races.
"A rider who has given notice of retirement from cycling to the UCI may not resume competing at international level unless he notifies the UCI at least 6 months in advance before he expects to return to international competition and is available for unannounced out of competition testing at any time during the period before actual return to competition," the rule says.
Armstrong officially announced Sept. 9 that he is returning to cycling after three years in retirement in a bid to win the Tour de France for an eighth time with the Astana team of his former cycling manager Johan Bruyneel. That date only leaves less than five months before the start of the Tour Down Under.
However, Armstrong has run marathons and competed in small races over the past years and it is unclear when his 6-month countback could officially begin.
"We have to look into that. I am not sure what the exact dates are that he started the program," McQuaid said.
If Armstrong is barred from competing in Australia it would be a major setback for organizers there.
The big issue is the official day of return that has been recorded in the anti-doping books. A UCI official, who demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the cycling federation should be in line with whatever information USADA has. Discussions on that issue are set for early next week.
Armstrong has made anti-doping evidence a cornerstone of his comeback, after he had been hounded by doping suspicions for years during the time he won seven Tours in a row.
On Aug. 9, Armstrong competed in the Leadville-100 "Race Across the Sky," a lung-searing 100-mile mountain bike race through the Rockies. Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens said Armstrong had registered with USADA even before that date, but could not specify further.
Original here
No comments:
Post a Comment