Bitter UCI election race ending today
MONTHS of shadowy politicking, claims of corruption and the use of secret, damning dossiers will come to an end today when the International Cycling Union (UCI) holds its presidential election.
Barely a year after disgraced American Lance Armstrong was banned for life for doping, cycling is about to elect a leader it hopes can breathe fresh life into the sport and push it towards a doping-free future.
Yet what has become a duel between Irish incumbent Pat McQuaid and British Cycling president Brian Cookson has taken almost as many twists and turns in recent months as the storied career of Armstrong.
Cookson, who has overseen Britain’s emergence as the world power in track cycling and the rise of its cyclists among a professional road scene once ruled by mainland Europeans, is believed to be the frontrunner.
McQuaid is widely expected to pay the price for what Cookson has labelled the UCI’s “inefficient handling” of the Armstrong affair and a stance which his critics say reflects too closely that of Hein Verbruggen, his predecessor.
In a sport that has suffered years of scandal, anything less than a juicy build-up to the fight for the UCI presidency would have been disappointing.
The seemingly squeaky-clean Cookson is “confident” of winning and said he would quickly launch a “truth and reconciliation” process and build bridges with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
He also wants to “make our sport one where people can admire their heroes without doubt, aspire to compete, be a professional, even win a Tour or an Olympic medal and know that their friends will respect and not question them”. If he is successful, it would be a major step for the unassuming Englishman who gave up his job as a top official in a local government urban design unit to devote more time to the sport in Britain.
If defeated, McQuaid said he would walk away. “I know if I lose I certainly won’t be looking to make a legal challenge. I’d walk away. I would hope my opponent would do the same,” he said.
Although Cookson is “taking nothing for granted”, the signs suggest McQuaid’s time is up.
The Irishman has based his campaign on his efforts to eradicate doping, notably introducing the pioneering biological passport programme which other major sports are now adopting.
But while reported to have the support of delegates from Africa and Asia and some from South America, McQuaid reportedly has little favour with the majority of Europe’s delegates.
McQuaid believes Igor Makarov, the Russian Cycling Federation president — who has reportedly compiled a secret dossier against the UCI chief — played a crucial role in that development.