Burgos-BH teach ethics classes during doping suspension
Burgos-BH have kicked off what is undoubtedly one of the more unusual early-season training camps. The Spanish Professional Continental squad are serving a team-wide suspension and will use the time at a two-week camp where they will spend the mornings riding while in the afternoon they will participate in discussions related to ethics, cycling's battle against doping and best professional practice hosted by team doctors and a priest.
Burgos-BH decided to suspend themselves after failed doping tests for three of their riders: Igor Merino, Ibai Salas and, previously, David Belda. The team's decision to stop racing was subsequently confirmed by the UCI in December as an official suspension for three weeks.
The entire team are spending part of this period, which runs until February 5, in a hotel in the Spanish Mediterranean resort of Almuñecar, for a period of reflection and education.
"It all comes down to what happened last year, we thought it was wisest to bring the team together," team manager Julio Andrés Izquierdo told Cyclingnews.
"And to make them [the riders] appreciate that sport has to be clean and that sooner or later you'll get caught for what you don't achieve cleanly, through hard work and motivation.
"We've got the whole team here for nearly three weeks, and then after the early races of the years, they'll be back here, again."
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