Following today’s earlier news that the Garmin-Cervélo team had fired Matt White over his referral of previous team rider Trent Lowe to a controversial Spanish doctor for physiological testing, the Australian sports director has accepted that he made an error of judgement.
White confirmed that he had advised Lowe to go to the Sports Institute of Valencia, where Luis Garcia del Moral was working. Del Moral was the former sports doctor with the US Postal Service team where both White and Vaughters raced a decade or so ago. He has been implicated in several possible doping cases since then.
White confirmed the reason for the team’s decision was the April 2009 referral to Del Moral, something he said was done simply because it was the most practical way for Lowe to be assessed near to his home.
“My commitment as sports director has always been to ensuring the optimal health and well-being of our riders,” he said in a statement released a short while ago. “So when Trent Lowe, who was living in Valencia and who had been sick for a long time, came to me for help, I sent him to the local Valencian sports institute for testing so we could find out what we were dealing with.
“I understand that the rules are the rules,” he continued, referring to Garmin’s strict guidelines that athletes can work only with approved team doctors. “I am sorry for my mistake and I am ready to move on. There is so much opportunity for cycling overseas and here in Australia, that the decision really will be best for both of me and the team. The lads know I wish them all the best for 2011.”
White’s reference to cycling in Australia may be a tacit admission that he is planning on working with the GreenEdge project in 2012. He has been rumoured of late to be part of the set-up of the new would-be UCI ProTeam.
Today was a very bittersweet day for White, who guided Cameron Meyer to victory in the Santos Tour Down Under, but then later learned that he would no longer work with the team. He had the 2011 season left to run on his contract, but that now will not happen.
“I¹ve had three outstanding and really enjoyable years with the boys from Slipstream. With all the movement in the focus for the team this year I reckon that my own efforts and momentum could be better directed elsewhere for this season,” he said.
Lowe is yet to comment on today’s news.