Changes former policy around

Androni Giocattoli boss, Gianni Salvio, states that his former policy, of giving ex-dopers a second chance, is over.

“It’s true, I’ve given a second chance to riders with doping bans. Now I have changed that policy,” Savio told VeloNews. “I’ve decided because cycling has changed so much, anyone who now falls in with problems with doping, they do not deserve a second opportunity.”

The Italian has previously hired a number of cycling’s blackest sheep, amongst others Davide Rebellin, Danilo Hondo, Michele Scarponi, Emanuele Sella and , Franco Pellizotti; with the ladder two still riding as part of the team.

Savio readily admitted that ex-dopers could be signed for a fraction of the price of other successful riders, but stated that he in reality signed them to give them another chance.

“These riders recognized their errors, and they learned from their mistakes,” Savio continued. “All of these riders now are doing things in the correct way, and they have not repeated the same mistakes.”

Androni’s team manager also used the opportunity lash out toward some of the other professional cycling teams, and was especially annoyed with the rife hypocrisy on the teams, concerning doping, and riders that had previously been caught.

“There was a lot of hypocrisy. Teams would say one thing, and then they would do something else. And if a rider was caught, they didn’t want to know anything about them anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to say names, but there were many big teams who would talk about the fight against doping, but on the inside, they were very big dopers.”

Despite his feelings towards ex-dopers and the other teams Salvio acknowledges that changes in cycling has taken place, and he believes that most teams are clean, and that riders are not encouraged to dope.

“Today is very different than in the past,” Savio said. “There were riders who would test positive, and others who did not, when everyone knows they were doing the same thing. In cycling today, the situation has changed dramatically. One cannot say that doping is over, but the majority of the peloton is clean. Today I do not believe it is appropriate to give riders a second chance.”