By Gregor Brown in Autun
Team managers and staff were recently requested to sign a similar document to that of the UCI riders' agreement of June 19, but Liquigas General Manager Roberto Amadio believes that the document will change nothing for his team's anti-doping programme and he plans to sign the UCI document after the Tour de France.
"We will make our evaluation of this document," said Amadio to Cyclingnews Thursday morning in Chablis. The Italian noted the team's position as a ProTour squad and reckoned its signature would be added soon. "We have to take into consideration that we are apart of the bigger associations and we are prepared to look over it and then take a decision."
"In signing the document, they promise never to encourage a cyclist in their team to dope himself, nor to turn a blind eye to any doping activities that occur within their team," stated a UCI document released on July 10.
"I have not yet signed, I am here at the Tour and my mind is on the Tour. I don't think you will solve the problem by signing documents," Amadio continued.
The document is supposed to be signed by August 1. "For me the date is not a problem. August 1, August 10, September 30... . For me it doesn't matter when. For me, even before signing any charter, I have been working against doping. So, for me the charter is inutile. It is not an issue, if the UCI tells me I have to sign this document then I have to sign it."
Like the riders, the staff would be forced to pay one year's salary if the pledge is broken. "For me it is not a problem because I am already working against doping," continued Armadio. "What we have to do I am already doing, it is not that I have to do something extra."
