ADELAIDE, Australia- The man spearheading a new
Australian elite cycling project insisted Monday he would not resort to
poaching riders illegally from other teams.

Shayne Bannan, the former head of Australia’s high performance cycling
programme, unveiled plans for the first ever Australian-financed and
registered team among Europe’s elite echelon in 2012.

But he was immediately forced to defend reports he had infringed UCI
(International Cycling Union) rules by negotiating with Australian riders who
under already under contract with other top level teams.

“Obviously it’s in our best interests to target the best Australians who
are out of contract at the end of 2011,” said Bannan.

“At the appropriate time we will be in more formal negotiations”, with the
riders.

While Bannan is confident the project will meet strict criteria set out by
the UCI once their application for a Pro Tour license is officially lodged in
August, controversy has already surfaced.

Reports earlier this week claimed the team project, called GreenEDGE, was
already linked to a number of top emerging Australians, including
recently-crowned Australian champion Jack Bobridge, Cameron Meyer and sports
director Matt White — all of whom are under contract at Garmin-Cervelo.

The contracts of all three expire on December 31 and UCI rules say official
contract talks can only take place after August 1.

Garmin-Cervelo team boss Jonathan Vaughters hit out: “While I understand
the strong national pride of Australians and understand the desire to have a
team of their own, if any employment discussions of any sort occur with any of
our riders outside of the mandated transfer time then we will pursue the
appropriate legal action.”

In reality, contract talks often take place informally before, during and
after races — a fact Bannan confirmed by claiming he had already been
approached by several Australians keen to come on board.

But he said: “I’d have the same response (to Vaughters). He’s got some
fantastic Aussies in his team but he would be aware that some of them are out
of contract at the end of the year.”

If granted a UCI Pro Tour license for 2012, GreenEDGE would become the
first Australian-backed and registered team in cycling’s elite.

The team aims to have 75 percent of its roster composed of Australian
riders, the remainder coming from countries where future title sponsors have
business interests.

Article:AFP