Garmin-Cervélo Dismisses Matt White
Garmin-Cervélo has dismissed director Matt White as a result of the role he played in the referral of former rider, Trent Lowe, to Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral of the Sports Institute of Valencia in April 2009.
The controversial Spanish doctor, who once oversaw the medical staff of US Postal Service from 1999 to 2003, has since been entangled in numerous doping allegations. Recently, Garcia del Moral publicly came to the defense of Lance Armstrong after Floyd Landis levied doping accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion, "telling the Associated Press that Landis' allegations were 'a joke' and that he wasn't aware of any cheating, saying 'I don't know anything about all of this.'"
Because of their strict anti-doping policies and mission to a cleaner sport, the Slipstream Sports Board of Directors released the following statement earlier this morning.
"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. Slipstream Sports has an explicit internal policy that all medical referrals are approved by our medical staff. In this instance, this vital rule was broken. As a result, the Board of Directors has dismissed Matt White.
We want to make it clear that we are parting ways for one reason and one reason only: because this vital team rule was broken.
We are actively looking at solutions for competition and in the interim, Jonathan Vaughters will step in as Director of Competition."
“We made a promise to our riders and to the world when we started this team," stated Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports. "We live, every day, by the standards we have set for ourselves. We cannot allow this vital team rule to be broken.”
Jon Cassat, Vice President of Communications at Garmin echoed Vaughters sentiments and confirmed the company's commitment to the Slipstream Sports cause by saying, “We initially partnered with Slipstream Sports because we believe in their mission. We remain committed to Slipstream Sports and commend its management for holding true to the organization’s values and high standards.”
Gerard Vroomen, CEO of Cervélo, was also duly impressed by the team's hard-lined stance and swift actions, “It’s tough news but it gives me a lot of confidence in the Slipstream organization. It’s easy to take a tough stance when there are no consequences, it’s much more impressive when a team is willing to take a bullet to protect its philosophy and the cycling sport in general.”
Photo: Active.com
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