Matt White sacked from Orica-GreenEdge for his part in Armstrong doping scandal

It was virtually inevitable following his admission of doping alongside Lance Armstrong while riding for the US Postal Service team, but Orica-GreenEdge has now made clear its decision to sack its sports director Matt White.

White had already been sacked by Cycling Australia from his position as elite men’s road coordinator with the national team last month, after he confessed and apologised for his part in the scandal, and he also stepped down from his Orica-GreenEdge position temporarily to await the outcome of an internal investigation.

That was completed yesterday.

"Orica-GreenEDGE is a clean team and our commitment to being clean has been a foundation principle of the team since the day of its inception," team owner Gerry Ryan said in a statement.

"Professional cycling is at a crossroads. The future of the sport is being determined by what we do today.

"(We) will not step back from taking any necessary decision to protect the integrity of the sport and the team and to restore the confidence of cycling fans around the world."

In a confession published on October 13th, after being named in the USADA dossier on Armstrong, White said: "I am sad to say that I was part of a team where doping formed part of the team's strategy, and I too was involved in that strategy.

"My involvement is something I am not proud of and I sincerely apologise to my fans, media, family and friends who trusted me and also to other athletes in my era that consciously chose not to dope.”

In their own statement last month, Orica-GreenEdge said:

"The management of GreenEdge supports Matt White’s decision to step down from his position with the team during the process of evaluating his involvement in the revelations put forward by the recently released USADA report.

“We hope for a quick and clear resolution of this issue and will await the decision of the relevant authorities. Until this process has run its due course, the management will refrain from making any further comments." 


White's record has been blemished for some time, causing some to wonder why he continued to be employed in these roles after January 2011, when he was sacked as directeur sportive by Garmin-Cervelo on the same day he had led Cameron Meyer to overall victory in the Tour Down Under.

White left the team after it emerged that he had broken protocol by not obtaining authorisation from its medical staff before referring a rider to an outside doctor – in this case, former US Postal doctor Luis Garcia Del Moral.