It was "a mistake" for the International Cycling Union (UCI) to give Lance Armstrong an exception to its drug-testing rules, said Rudolf Scharping, head of the German Cycling Federation.
According to UCI rules, a rider must be enrolled in the anti-doping programme for six months before his first race, and Armstrong would have been eligible to ride as of February 1, 2009. However, the UCI bent its own regulation for the seven-times Tour de France winner and will allow him to start in the Tour Down Under as of January 20.
