US cycling team stand by scrapper

Hayden Roulston

Cycling star Hayden Roulston may be penalised but will get another chance with the world's top professional team after his third conviction for fighting in two years.

Roulston, 24, feared he may be dropped from the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team in the United States after he was convicted of disorderly behaviour for throwing punches in a brawl outside a Timaru bar 12 days ago.

The Discovery Channel team, featuring world cycling supremo Lance Armstrong, had warned Roulston not to get into trouble again after he punched two people while out celebrating his inclusion in the New Zealand Olympic team last year, according to his lawyer Jared Bell.

In the Ashburton District Court this week, Mr Bell said Roulston believed the latest conviction would "almost certainly spell the end of his involvement with that team".

But Discovery team spokesman Dan Osipow, speaking to the Herald from the US yesterday, said Roulston's conviction would not jeopardise his spot on the team.

"Nobody was happy to see [the conviction], nobody was happy to hear about it, but at the same point it's not going to remove Hayden from the team," Mr Osipow said.

"Obviously when he comes to the US for the next training camp ... we will have a conversation about it, there's no doubt about that.

"No team likes to see their athletes listed in anything but results pages and anywhere else is really not acceptable and sufficient for an athletic team."

Mr Osipow said he had spoken to Roulston, who felt terrible about what had happened.

"He feels that he made a pretty big mistake to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He will clearly use better judgment moving forward.

"When you are an athlete in our sport nothing good can happen with being out late at night and being in front of a bar at 3 in the morning. I think he has learned from that and I hope he has learned from that."

Asked if internal disciplinary procedures might be taken against Roulston, Mr Osipow said: "We are not clear yet. But at the same point, we will keep that internal. That we feel is something that would exist between an athlete and his team. We just haven't gone there yet."

He said Roulston was rated highly by the team.

"He's a tough guy. He's a typical New Zealand-type athlete. Everybody on this team races all the best events."

When contacted yesterday, Roulston said the Herald had no right contacting his team and had already done enough damage. He would not make any comment.

Cycling New Zealand says it has no plans to take any action against Roulston, unless a complaint is received from one of its members.