Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has said that the UCI needs to provide an explanation for technical manager Mark Barfield’s decision to alert Typhoon e-bike CEO Harry Gibbings of a French police investigation into mechanical doping during last year’s Tour. He also called for an independent body to deal with the issue of mechanical doping instead of the UCI.
A report on the Stade 2 programme on Sunday evening showed that Barfield had sent an email to Gibbings after French police reportedly voiced concerns to the UCI about the presence of Hungarian engineer Stefano Varjas on the race. Varjas worked with Typhoon bikes until December of last year.
Gibbings told Cyclingnews on Monday that Varjas denied being on the Tour when he contacted him, though receipts he later submitted for expenses purposes apparently showed that he was in France at the time. In a statement on Monday morning, the UCI expressed “full confidence” in its staff.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s surprising to say the least. It demands an explanation, that’s for sure,” Prudhomme told Stade 2.
Prudhomme queried why thermal imaging has not been incorporated into the UCI's existing testing process. He said that he had raised the topic with Barfield when he met with him during last week’s Critérium du Dauphiné.
“I said to him that even if he didn’t believe in thermal imaging, it should be used because no method is infallible and you should use every available methodology at your disposal to find cheats,” Prudhomme said.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/28A3Cfr
No comments:
Post a Comment