Cadel Evans Press Conference at VISThe Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) will host a press conference in honour of its very own Cadel Evans, after winning the Tour de France.Sun 22/07/2011Pictured is VIS Cycling Head Coach, Dave Sanders and behind Richard Jeremiah and Lisa Jacobs.Photo. Melanie Faith Dove

Dave Sanders. Photo: Melanie Dove

DAVE SANDERS, who grooms many of Australia's young road cyclists for professional careers, is respected for being direct and he couldn't be clearer on how his proteges should deal with the doping slurs on the sport: be honest, race hard and ''soldier on''.

The head cycling coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport has several riders who have been making names for themselves this year - including members of the Uni SA-Australia team that he manages - and were present in attacks during the third stage of the Tour Down Under on Thursday.

The 139-kilometre stage from Unley to Stirling was won by Dutchman Tom Slagter (Blanco), while Briton Geraint Thomas (Sky) kept his overall lead.

''You carry it if you chose to [dope],'' Sanders said of the fallout of the Lance Armstrong affair and other doping controversies. ''These guys can't [do anything] except by being honest, straight, race hard and do what they can do. I can't have any effect. I don't see [cycling] dying. We have to soldier on. It's the levels above us that really need to tidy their acts up and get it right.''

Sanders, who has worked closely with many of Australia's top professionals, has witnessed cycling endure the storm of doping controversies such as the 1998 Festina scandal, the 2006 Floyd Landis affair and Operation Puerto that same year.

Through it all, he nurtured them as riders and people. But one day, he knew, they would make their own choices: from what teams they rode for, how they raced tactically to what had been regarded as inevitable - the day they were faced with the dilemma of whether to dope or not.

The latter question, Sanders said, was one far less prevalent than in the 1990s and the early to mid-2000s when Armstrong was at his peak.

He speaks regularly with Australian riders who were on World Tour teams during what many call the ''dark era'' of doping. ''I always talk to the old guys. They were my younger guys one day and are still family to me,'' Sanders said. ''I keep in touch with the top end with what's going on - the training and culture and everything.''

Because of the rampant doping unveiled in gritty detail in recent months, Sanders knows the perception remains that cycling is a dirty sport. ''I am not glad about anything. I don't like any of it,'' Sanders said. ''It's sad. I don't like people looking at you, people singing out from cars calling you drug whatevers. Nobody likes that.

''But I'm glad [the doping issue] is reaching a peak because when you get a peak you get a crest and go down the other side. I don't think it's over. There is going to be more disclosures and more whatever down the line.''

But Sanders says young riders have a thicker skin than most realise. ''You learn to get a pretty tough hide. You would not want to take it too personally. They are used to being abused, having things thrown at [them], spat on … you just have to keep calm and deal with it. That's society. There's not much we can do about it.''

Twitter @rupertguinness