Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Sharp) leading up the steep ramp
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Garmin trio banned after US Postal doping investigation
Garmin-Sharp riders Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie have made statements in relation to the news that they have been banned by USADA for their part in the US Postal doping programme. The trio rode for Postal and Discovery Channel – a later incarnation of US Postal – during their careers, but now ride for Jonathan Vaugthers’ Garmin-Sharp squad.
All three riders and Vaughters doped during their respective times as teammates of Lance Armstrong, and after giving written testimonies to USADA, all three riders have been banned.
Each rider has received a six month ban. Vande Velde has been banned from September 9 2012, and lost his results from June 4, 2004 through until April 30 2006. Danielson has been banned from September 1 2012, and loses his results from March 1 2005 until September 23, 2006. Zabriskie’s suspension starts from September 1, 2012 and he loses all results from May 12, 2003, until July 31st 2006.
Levi Leipheimer (Omega Phara Quick Step), Michael Barry (Team Sky), and George Hincapie (BMC), all former US Postal riders, have also been sanctioned and banned by USADA.
In a statement released by Garmin-Sharp, the team states: “We created Slipstream Sports because we wanted to create a team where cyclists could compete 100% clean. We understood cycling’s history and we were determined to create a different environment for riders; to give them a place to come where they did not have to make the difficult and heartbreaking choices of the past.”
“Today, we are very encouraged to see the incredible strides cycling has taken to clean itself up. But, while it is important to acknowledge pride in the fact that cycling has never been cleaner, we find ourselves at a critical moment in cycling’s evolution: confronting its history.”
Vande Velde, fourth in the team’s debut Tour de France in 2008, turned professional with US Postal in 1998 and started the Tour the following year. He rode for Postal until the end of the 2003 season. Along
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