Cycling: Roulston's plans to head for US training camp unchanged

Hayden Roulston. Picture / Fotopress

New Zealand cyclist Hayden Roulston still plans to join the Discovery Channel professional team in the United States next month, despite yesterday being convicted for assault.

Christchurch District Court Judge John Bisphan yesterday found Roulston, 23, guilty of two charges of assault.

The assaults took place in a Christchurch bar in June while Roulston was celebrating his selection for the Olympics.

Roulston is due to head to the US next month to join the Discovery Channel team, headed by Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, at a training camp.

His lawyer, James Rapley, told the court that the criminal record would jeopardise the rider's two-year contract.

"He'll be rejected (by US immigration) and he won't be able to get in and the job will be gone and then it's academic."

Roulston told NZPA this morning he felt hard done by because he still believed he was innocent of the charges.

He was struggling to understand why he had been convicted.

Witnesses who told the court they could identify the attacker had not picked him out in court, he said.

"They also said he (the attacker) had sandy blond hair - and you and me both know I don't have sandy blond hair," he said.

"These guys were sober that night and they are going to remember the face, especially if they had been assaulted and they said they could identify him again.

"They said he wasn't in court and I was sitting in the court that day."

But he did not plan to appeal.

"There's nothing we can do now - we've fought it and fought it for this long, since June.

"It's just carried on so long, it is affecting me mentally and I can't have the added stress anymore."

A conviction could affect Roulston's chances of obtaining a visa to the US for the compulsory training camp that begins on January 9.

However, the police prosecutor informed the court he had been advised by the head of non-immigrant visas at the US consulate in Auckland that "normally, a person would not have a problem getting a visa, especially when they are sponsored by an organisation or company".

Roulston will not race for the team in the US, as he is signed to race on the European professional circuit.

He said he was committed to attending the training camp in California.

Cycling New Zealand president Wayne Hudson said this morning no further action against Roulston was being contemplated.

What happened just had a coincidental connection with Cycling New Zealand, he said.

"We don't think the case affects his position in relation to Cycling New Zealand - he was not in uniform representing New Zealand at the time."

Hudson confirmed Hawke's Bay cyclist Jeremy Yates had been suspended for two years from December 1.

Yates, 22, was banned for two years by the Belgian Cycling Union after being found guilty of a doping offence.

Cycling New Zealand receiving notification from the International Cycling Union on December 7, Hudson said.

Former world junior champion Yates tested positive for high levels of testosterone after a race in March in Wanzele, Belgium.

- NZPA