Enlarge image
Azzedine Lagab
Photo: Christophe Ena / AP
After the racism scandal surrounding the German cycling functionary Patrick Moster at the Olympic Games, the Algerian rider Azzedine Lagab, whom he vilified, will start on the Germany tour that begins on Thursday.
The organizer confirmed this.
Accordingly, Lagab was hired at short notice by the Saarland Continental Team Bike Aid.
Moster, sports director of the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (BDR), cheered on Nikias Arndt from Cologne at the games in Tokyo with the words "Get the camel drivers, get the camel drivers, come", cheering the Lagab and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier in front of him to catch up from Eritrea. The calls were captured on television and broadcast live. After that, Moster had to leave Tokyo and was banned by the world association UCI until the end of the year.
The Bike Aid team wants to set an example against racism with the campaign. “To add Azzedine Lagab to our team, and it was obviously not an easy decision to make during the current season for such an important tour. I think that if we as a team stand by what we claim to be, then we have to take on this matter and question ourselves, "Matthias Schnapka, one of the team's managers, was quoted in the message from Bike Aid.
"I could have imagined that he would find my contact clumsy," added Schnapka.
But Lagab has agreed.
With the Deutschland Tour, he now has the chance to tell his life story, to take another step as an athlete and to continue to encourage the young drivers in his home country, added Schnapka.
In addition to Lagab, Dawit Yemane, the Eritrean champion, will also start the four-day tour for the racing team.
jan / dpa