Michael Drapac continues his zealous campaign against Winning Edge program

TEAM owner Michael Drapac's zealous campaign to improve the ethical image of cycling is set to come into sharper public focus.

Michael Drapac is unimpressed by the Winning Edge mentality. Picture: David Crosling

TEAM owner Michael Drapac's zealous campaign to improve the ethical image of cycling - and sport in general - will come into sharper public focus on Tuesday.

Drapac Pro Cycling will contest the Tour Down Under for the first time, providing unprecedented exposure for the wealthy Melbourne property developer's controversial philosophies about developing young sportsman.

In a nutshell, he says winning isn't as important as the Australian Sports Commission's Winning Edge program - which underpins all Government sports funding - insists it is.

Launched two years ago, Winning Edge rewards world champions and Olympic gold medallists, and their sports, more than those who are less successful, an approach Drapac recently labelled as ruthless, treacherous and disastrous.

Having been rebuked by Australian Institute of Sport director Matt Favier, Drapac opened fire again, saying he was "still shocked and appalled" by the program.

"The AIS have clearly lost their way (and) are clearly out of step with what the rest of the world is doing," Drapac said during a lengthy, emotional speech at a launch for his newly-upgraded team in Adelaide.

"We must sustain values and ethics and stop being seduced by gold medals."

Trenchant criticism of cycling's ethics and morals is not uncommon, but it is normally inspired by the doping problems that have plagued the sport.

Drapac is more concerned with social responsibilities and the human development of young athletes and their ability to live their lives productively once their competitive careers are over.

"We have to give athletes life skills and awareness or we have failed them," he said.

Drapac founded his team a decade ago with just three young cyclists from Melbourne's northern suburbs but has grown it to the point where cycling's controlling body, the UCI, recently elevated it to Professional-Continental status, one rung below Orica-GreenEDGE and the other 18 elite WorldTour teams.

The team has been given a wildcard into the TDU, Australia's only WorldTour event, and sports director Henk Vogels has promised they will make an impact with aggressive racing.

The 17 strong squad has three foreign riders but the TDU team will be all-Australian, headed by sprinter Jonathan Cantwell, who rode the Tour de France for Danish outfit Tinkoff-Saxo a couple of years ago, and former national road race champion Darren Lapthorne.

On paper the men in red will certainly have their work cut out to match it with the international stars among the 20-team, 140 rider peloton from 23 countries.

But Lapthorne, who has been with the team since 2005, says a strong performance in the recent national championship road race in Buninyong has given them confidence.

"The talent in this team is world-class and we already have respect, We feel welcome. We feel worthy of this race and races to come."

Drapac is also aiming to have a big crack at the Herald Sun Tour next month before tackling major events in America and Europe.

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