Cycling Australia referred doping allegations against Matt White to the nation's drugs in sport watchdog just months before it appointed him national road co-ordinator.

ASADA started investigating White in 2010 after CA became aware of allegations from American rider Floyd Landis which led to White's weekend admission that he had doped while a pro rider.

In January 2011, CA appointed White to the national team job.

ASADA says it had been unable to pursue a thorough investigation of White at the time because of the US probe which eventually brought down Lance Armstrong.

Multiple sources have confirmed that ASADA was investigating White prior to his CA appointment and his hiring by Australia's professional road team Orica-GreenEDGE.

ASADA confirmed in a statement on Monday: "In 2010 ASADA became aware of allegations of doping made against Mr White by the American cyclist Floyd Landis.

"Due to the federal investigation in the United States and subsequent United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation, ASADA was unable to obtain information to pursue a thorough investigation."

ASADA is prohibited from revealing details of ongoing cases and would have been unable to tell CA unless they had definite proof White had been doping.

And Landis, a drug cheat stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory, had been widely viewed as a discredited voice in the sport at the time.

But the wider fabric of the USADA investigation which nailed Armstrong gave new credence to Landis's claims - including that he had used testosterone and EPO with White while part of the US Postal team in 2003.

White stood down from both his key Australian roles at the weekend, admitting his doping as a rider but saying he had run completely clean teams since moving into management in 2007.

CA also had another chance not to employ White due to his dismissal from pro team Garmin-Cervelo just days after CA announced his appointment.

White had referred Australian rider Trent Rowe to now-disgraced ex-Armstrong doctor Luis Garcia del Moral without the team's permission although there was no talk of doping.

The original plan was for White to do the CA job while working for Garmin-Cervelo so the appointment was put on hold for a week.

CA chief executive Graham Fredericks eventually told his board there was no reason to reconsider White's appointment to the high performance program.

CA president Klaus Mueller has already said the organisation may not have been thorough enough in its checks before appointing White.

Mueller said the Rowe matter would also be re-examined.

ASADA also pledged a new investigation into White on Monday saying: "The confession of doping by Mr White is indeed a serious matter.

"The action of peer pressure to force any athlete to dope is abhorrent, but does not excuse the choice made by an individual athlete to participate in a team strategy that sets out to deceive the sport and its fans.

"Due to the extensive nature of the USADA report and the latest admission by Mr White, ASADA will be seeking further information from USADA and Cycling Australia as the relevant national sporting organisation.

"This may take some time, but ASADA has a duty to be both thorough and accurate in its investigation."