Top
German cyclist Linus Gerdemann, known for his staunch anti-doping
stance, has criticized the return of Lance Armstrong because of the
doping suspicions once surrounding the seven-time Tour de France
winner. News of the 37-year-old American's return has not been
universally welcomed, due mainly to a series of allegations, all
unproven, that he used banned substances during his seven-year Tour
reign.
Gerdemann
won the first mountain stage of the 2007 Tour on his debut but missed
this year's race, and the Beijing Olympics, because of a broken leg.
Regarded as the rider who could help restore cycling's credibility in
Germany, where doping scandal has left it on the scrapheap, the
26-year-old Tour of Germany winner says Armstrong's return will do no
good for the sport.
"This
is not positive for the credibility of cycling, but there's nothing
anyone can do about it," said Gerdemann as he announced his switch from
Team Columbia to Milram.
Gerdemann's
comments come amidst a general freefall in German cycling following
continued doping scandals, notably that of Stefan Schumacher and his
Austrian teammate Bernhard Kohl, both star performers in this year's
Tour de France for the Gerolsteiner team. In the wake of their positive
tests, German television broadcasters ARD and ZDF announced they would
not carry the 2009 Tour.
"For
us, Armstrong is a piece of the past we don't want to see again,"
Rolf-Dieter Ganz, head of communications at ARD, told Die Welt
newspaper in September. "The future belongs to young riders, certainly
not to Armstrong's generation which we had hoped to have seen the back
of." |