Vaughters beats Landis to the punch. The Del Moral dilemma.

In his day as a skilled professional cyclist, Jonathan Vaughters was a climber, not a sprinter.

Well, Twisted Spoke is thinking the King of Garmin-Cervelo might have a few fast twitch fibers because he sure moved quickly and stayed ahead of the pack.

Vaughters must have known the lengthy tell-all interview with journalist Paul Kimmage and Floyd Landis was gonna drop any day and that the name of former US Postal physician Dr Luis Garcia del Moral would stick out like a festering sore.

That’s the same doctor that Garmin director sportif Matt White sent rider Trent Lowe to for tests in 2009. Del Moral has been under several dark clouds — former Postal employee Emma O’Reilly accused him of writing a fake prescription for Lane Armstrong to cover his positive test for cortisone in the 1999 Tour de France.

Del Moral is also the star of a video in which journalists filmed him disposing of US Postal medical waste at the 2000 Tour. Goodies included syringes, intravenous apparatus and a calf’s blood extract called Actovegin. While no charges were ever filed, he’s simply not the kind of guy Garmin-Cervelo wants any contact with and as a result popular DS Matt White was fired.

However, the most damning news was in the Landis interview with Kimmage, in which Floyd claims it was the Spanish doctor who set up his blood transfusions and doping program while at Phonak.

Vaughters’ quick move to minimize the Del Moral connection was a wise decision — and getting it accomplished weeks before Landis accused Del Moral was the best kind of damage control given circumstances. Do the dirty laundry before it gets dirtier. This is called staying ahead of the story and it’s the kind of media control the Armstrong camp once had mastered.

Moral of the Moral story? Once again, the argyle genius shows why he’s not just on top of his game. He’s ahead of the game.