UK cyclist Cavendish says cycling still ‘cleanest’ sports despite Armstrong shame

London: British cycling ace Mark Cavendish has claimed cycling is still the cleanest sport in world despite Lance Armstrong getting banned from the sport for leading the most sophisticated doping scandal ever in sports history.

Cavendish, who is the 2011 Road Race World Champion, said the fact the American has been brought to justice shows tougher drug rules are working. “Lance Armstrong should say sorry for the bitter legacy he has created, because it’s clean athletes like myself who are left to absorb the shockwaves,” the Sun quoted Cavendish, as saying. “Yesterday, I was at a press conference unveiling next year’s Tour de France route, yet all anyone wanted to ask was: “What do you think about doping in cycling?” he added. “Let me tell you, cycling today is the cleanest sport in the world. Obviously there was an era when doping was rife, but we’re talking about when I was still at school,” he said. Cavendish added: “Cycling has moved Heaven and Earth to exterminate the rot which set in, to the sport’s shame, in the 80s and 90s. And today it is rooting out the cyclists who were cheating decades ago.” “But instead of realising that cycling has made itself the most transparent sport around, a lot of people are saying: “Oooh look at how many cyclists cheat,” he further said. “It’s not that we have more cheats — we just catch them and bring them to justice better than any other sport. I am convinced other sports do not tackle doping as rigorously as cycling because they are frightened of losing franchises and sponsorships,” he added. ANI