The organisers of the Dutch race, the Arnhem Veenendaal Classic have said that cycling teams with a doping past are no longer welcome at their race.
They made this statement on Friday out of dissatisfaction with the decision to grant a license for the World Tour to Astana, a team with five recent doping cases.
Race Director Thijs Zonneveld said that “The Arnhem Veenendaal Classic repels teams who have known more than three doping cases in the past two years. We as an organization noted with amazement that Astana has been licensed by the UCI. There are a lot of riders, teams and organisations who day-in and day-out struggle to make cycling cleaner and more credible, but the UCI is apparently not interested in that. ”
“It is to give the signal that we do not support the decision of the UCI”, the race director continued. “If five positive cases in one season and concrete evidence of close ties with the notorious doping doctor Michele Ferrari are not enough for further investigation, then it’s over.”
The next edition is on August 21, 2015.
