bicycle.net -- cycling news, product reviews, original essays, podcasts & video :: Tour of California 2009

I’d like to introduce myself and our company – I am the CEO for the Agency for Cycling Ethics, “ACE”. We are bringing you this monthly column for bicycle.net to discuss cycling from the perspective of the teams and riders and the many important issues that have of late, tainted the sport. We will discuss the ethics in cycling and the moral code of conduct of the sport, but bring you both sides. Sounds like a big challenge. It is, but it is time to bring these issues out into the open and work towards a path of resolution.

A little backroung, the Agency for Cycling Ethics was founded to be an independent organization with the highest level of ethical and moral credibility. We provide teams and athletes with the drug testing, counseling, and education resources to take a stand against the use of performance enhancing drugs in the professional peloton. We are independent and avoid the public perception of team sponsored, internal conflicts of interests.

We have developed a drug testing program that uses the new science of biomarkers as well as the traditional testing for banned substances. This combined with our counseling and education programs have been implemented by Team Slipstream for which we have received significant media attention.

We provide an opportunity for teams and sponsors to take a public position for “Pure Sport” at a time in the sport where all the participants, the athletes, teams, sponsors, race organizers, and governing bodies, need to come together and put the past behind. ACE believes that it is time for the teams, sponsors, athletes, and governing bodies to all acknowledge and take responsibility for the past. To begin to forgive and together in a positive, collaborative fashion move forward to return cycling to the era of the golden years.

ACE believes our role to be the facilitator of a cycling “Competing Clean” community and we hope through this column, the readers will join with us.

During the next few weeks, during the Tour de France, I will be in France and sending articles, photos, and video clips of the Tour. I hope you enjoy my view of the TDF 2007.

Paul Strauss M.D. CEO
Agency for Cycling Ethics

pstrauss@agencyforcyclingethics.org
www.agencyforcyclingethics.org

The Agency for Cycling Ethics (ACE) is committed to the highest ethical standards in the professional sport of cycling. We believe in a cycling environment free of performance enhancing drugs by providing teams and sponsors with the resources necessary to achieve this goal.