Cycling in Ireland will be unaffected by the controversy surrounding Lance Armstrong’s confession to doping and his being stripped of titles, Olympic medals and the walls of many a young cycling fans bedroom.
That is the confident assertion of those most closely involved in the administration and sponsorship of the sport in this country.
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This article was free to view until 6pm on Sunday, January 27th.  It has an interview with Geoff Liffey and Martin O’Loughlin of Cycling Ireland and Barney Whelan of An Post, its principal commercial partner. Sign up today for a full or trial membership of Sport for Business and gain access to our full content, to a range of networking opportunities and member services, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the many leaders in business and sport that are already part of our community.
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[ismember]”70 per cent of the membership of Cycling Ireland are leisure cyclists and of the remainder only a very small cohort are involved at a level where these issues are of serious concern,” said Geoff Liffey, CEO of Cycling Ireland speaking to Sport for Business yesterday.
“Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to uphold the fair running and dignity of the sport and have worked closely with the Irish Sports Council on anti doping education that is ahead of most other countries.”
“All of our young cyclists are well drilled on the penalties within the sport and the impact on their health of trying to circumvent the rules,” added Martin O’Loughlin who manages the FBD sponsored Talent Team.
“They are taken through the process of how thorough a testing programme is and educated on the ways in which the introduction of the biological passport has made it so much more difficult to evade detection.”
“Ireland has five cyclists competing at international level where there is the greatest concern over the impact of Armstrong’s exposure but at the level of the Talent Team, we are producing sports mad riders who are local heroes in their own communities and are strongly supported in a clean environment.”
It is the case that the sins of past teams and groups of riders have focused the sport especially on the abuse of performance enhancing drugs and the argument that things are much better now as a result of the investigation and expulsion of those involved is a valid one.
The reputation of the sport among the wider audience though could still be a concern but as Barney Whelan of an Post suggests “there is in many ways a disconnect between what happened in the case of Lance Armstrong and other teams and the reasons why people get involved in the sport at a leisure level.”
An Post sponsors the Sean Kelly professional team based in Belgium, the an Post Rás and the an Post Cycle series which attracted 15,000 participants around the country last year.
“Ours is a major commitment to the development of the sport and to increasing participation,” said Whelan.
“We are very comfortable with the excellent education and testing programmes that exist in Ireland to a greater degree than almost any other country in the world.”
“We do have contract clauses that if one rider is caught doping that the whole sponsorship is lost. That is there to protect us and also to help team management follow the right path in this area.”
“Throughout our involvement we have paid for additional testing to make absolutely sure and there has never been a positive test.”
“Cycling is mainly about individuals getting fit and enjoying an outdoor exercise that is good for them.  Internally within an Post, our sponsorship has been of great value and we are pleased that it has also generated millions worth of local economic value around the stages of the Rás and especially the regional series which we support alongside the irish Sports Council.
“We are very comfortable operating in and associating ourselves with a sport that is growing in popularity despite the problems of the past.”[/ismember]
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