Team Bahrain Victorious has announced the addition of Australian climber and classics specialist Robert Stannard to the roster with immediate effect.
The 25-year-old has signed until the end of next season and will make his debut in the team’s colours at the Tour of Britain.
Stannard really broke onto the world stage in 2022, winning the Tour de Wallonie, finishing 17th at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and taking second in the ‘King of the Mountains’ classification at La Vuelta a España.
The 25-year-old is looking forward to being a part of the Bahrain team. “It’s clear to me this is a team full of great people. I am really excited to work with the group and contribute to achieving our goals. I feel like I’ve got my life back, in a way. I can’t wait to return to racing, and I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity by Bahrain,” he said.
After coming through the ranks with the Mitchelton-Scott organisation for six years, winning a stage at the under-23 Giro d’Italia and the under-23 Il Piccolo Lombardia, Stannard moved to Alpecin-Fenix in 2022, where he rode a mixture of stage and one-day races. He proved his worth as both a teammate and a potential leader, before in August 2023 receiving a letter from cycling’s governing body, the UCI, informing him that they had detected anomalies in his ‘Athlete Biological Passport’ (ABP) between 2018 and 2019.
The case has been highly contentious from the start, primarily because it has never been specified whether the rider is accused of using a prohibited substance or a prohibited method, and secondly, because he was able to provide explanations for what they had identified as ‘abnormal values’. Stannard takes up the story: “Athletes with ABP violations have not returned positive blood or urine tests for anything. They alleged that it could only have been caused by ‘illegal means’, but throughout the entire process, provided no evidence of any wrongdoing. No evidence of doping is collected or required for them to reach this judgment.
“I hope the Tribunal ruling will be published in the future, and then people will be able to read the details and make up their own minds. But it’s certainly changed my perspective on things, on cycling, and life as a whole. Yet most of all I am so grateful for the support I’ve had from those close to me, my family and my friends. They’ve got me through this, and I believe I have maybe even gained something much greater out of all of this. It’s awesome to be able to race my bike again, to continue my cycling career.”
Having been ‘provisionally suspended’ for around a year, in June the Anti-Doping Tribunal handed Stannard a four-year suspension, backdated to 2018. That ruling means he is eligible to compete again with immediate effect. “It’s awesome to be able to ride my bike again, to be able to continue my cycling career. I had to make a hard choice: accept the ruling and be able to do the sport I love again, or fight to clear my name. I believe I’ve made the wisest choice. I hope to be able to do both in the long run, but for now, I am seizing with both hands the opportunity to race again!” he said.
“I defended myself with logical explanations and scientific evidence, but disappointingly under the current system those things were not taken into consideration (under strict liability rules you are responsible even if not guilty). The truth is I just really love racing with teammates and going all out for wins, and after a year in which my body has had a complete rest and repaired itself, I hope I can do that for Bahrain Victorious.”
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