Australian Stuart O'Grady pulled on the maillot jaune in the 2001 Tour after a breakaway(Image credit: AFP Photo)
Stuart O'Grady (Orica GreenEdge) said that doping was never an option thoughout his lengthy career(Image credit: Cycling News)
Matthew Goss (left) is guided across the finish line by teammate Stuart O'Grady (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Prior to his retirement earlier this week after this year's Tour de France, Stuart O'Grady was racing for the Orica GreenEdge team. On Wednesday, O'Grady was one of the riders named by the French Senate committee as having tested positive for EPO during the 1998 Tour de France. Afterward, O'Grady admitted his guilt.
Orica GreenEdge's Team General Manager Shayne Bannan offered comments in support of his former rider O'Grady.
"Orica GreenEdge supports Stuart O'Grady's decision to step forward and place the findings of the French Senate Report of today into perspective regarding his own past," said Bannan.
"The team would also like to express its support in Stuart as a person and as an advocate for a clean sport. Like the majority of the riders in his generation, he was also exposed to the issues and wrongdoings of the sport and made some wrong choices in that environment.
"We would like to underline that in all of our interactions with Stuart, he has always been extremely clear about the right path for the sport and we believe that certain mistakes in the past shouldn’t be allowed to tarnish his entire career and his integrity as a person.
"Orica GreenEdge is proud to work in a sport that is at the forefront of the fight against doping and that we compete and win as a 100% clean team. The sport has undergone a revolution in setting up the right future for cycling and we consider ourselves one of the strongest advocates for this."
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