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Barloworld returns to racing despite doping scandal

By VeloNews.com
Published: Nov. 11, 2008
Colombian Maurizio Soler and a revitalized Barloworld team will race again come 2009.
Colombian Maurizio Soler and a revitalized Barloworld team will race again come 2009.

The South African Barloworld cycling team has done an about-face and decided to return to the sport five months after withdrawing over doping at the Tour de France.

Chris Fisher, head of corporate marketing at Barloworld, a South African multinational company, said Tuesday that the company's sponsorship had been "both successful and popular" and that the decision had been taken to carry on in 2009.

The team withdrew from this year's Tour and from cycling in general when one of its riders, Spaniard Moises Duenas, tested positive for the banned blood enhancer EPO.

"Team Barloworld has a zero-tolerance policy towards doping which has been constantly communicated to the riders — we have to act on this policy and as such we will all have to live with the long term consequences of one individual's action," said a team statement issued during the Tour.

"That decision was made in the heat of the moment. Afterward, they had time to reflect and even before the Tour was over, they had intended to return," team spokesman Claudio Masnata said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

Fisher said Barloworld "has enjoyed incredible levels of support from the public for the sponsorship."

"Our experience has been that today's cycling fan supports a team that touches their heart or one that is the underdog or the little guy. Team Barloworld, due to their wild-card status in the Tour de France, and their smaller budget than the big teams, has acquired the label 'the little team that knew they could," which has led to the emotional support not only of South Africans but a legion of international fans."

Barloworld's statement Tuesday said that the team "created a stepping stone for many South Africans to take the step up from local stardom onto the international stage.”

"Team Barloworld will continue to offer Africa's top riders an opportunity to compete internationally against the world's very best," the statement concluded.

The team is expected to remain largely unchanged for 2009, including up-an-coming South African climber John Lee Augustyn, his compatriot Robert Hunter, Colombian Maurizio Soler and British trio Steve Cummings, Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. An official announcement is expected within the next few days. —Agence France Presse contributed to this report