October 19/11 17:15 pm - Garneau Issues Statement Regarding Papillon Suspension

Posted by Editoress on 10/19/11
 

Team Garneau, the sponsor of the Garneau-Club Chaussures team which the Canadian rider Arnaud Papillon rode for this season, has issued a statement regarding Papillon's suspension from competition for using the banned substance EPO.

We were extremely disappointed to learn that cyclist Arnaud Papillon tested positive for illegal substances at the Canadian Championships, held June 23 - 26, 2011. He was a member of Team Garneau, Team Quebec and Team Canada.

We condemn this gesture that goes against the very nature of sportsmanship and is purely and simply cheating. Arnaud Papillon made a bad judgment call, due no doubt to his youth and he acted on his own.

We have decided to go ahead with three preventive actions starting next season:

1. Increase our team members' awareness against doping and help educate them accordingly.

2. Identify our team jersey with the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes slogan, "Roulez gagnant au naturel", as well as its national equivalent, "Race clean, own your victory", implemented by the Canadian Cycling Association.

3. Our team members will be submitted to 1 - 2 screening tests per season with assistance from the CCES (Canadian Center for Ethics in Sports).

Team Garneau has been competing for 11 years and will continue to do so next year. Its mission is to help young cyclists become great athletes and help them make their dream come true!

"In the past, the team helped Lyne Bessette, Hugo Houle, David Veilleux, as well as my two sons, William and Édouard, to achieve great performances. All these people succeeded in winning without drugs!" says Louis Garneau.

Punish, without destroying

"We must manage this situation like a good father would. We must punish, yes, and the CCES will ban Arnaud for two years. He will also unfortunately get a bad reputation in the process."

"On the other hand, we must not destroy the young people who have cheated, but instead bring them back and help them be better persons in life," Louis Garneau declared.

"Incidentally, I want to congratulate the CCES (Canadian Center for Ethics in Sports) for its excellent work."

"We all hope that this reprehensible behavior on Arnaud Papillon's part serves as an example and a lesson to everyone in order to avoid similar situations in the future. I believe in "clean" cycling," Mr. Garneau also stated.

Team Garneau consists of 29 cyclists in four Canadian provinces:  Quebec, Maritimes, Ontario and British Columbia.