Election of UCI chief ‘will be a crossroads moment’

WITH the shadow of the Lance Armstrong doping affair still hanging over cycling, British challenger Brian Cookson called tomorrow’s UCI presidential election a “crossroads moment” for the sport.

The president of British Cycling also said the “shenanigans” that have marred the sport under incumbent Pat McQuaid — who is seeking a third four-year term — were no longer acceptable. “I want to make our sport one in which people can admire their heroes without doubt,” Cookson said yesterday.

The vote, held during the road world championships, will be a secret ballot of the 42 voters. A simple majority of 22 votes is required for victory. The voting congress will be held in Florence’s historic Palazzo Vecchio.

It remains unclear if McQuaid has a valid nomination because federations in his home country, Ireland, and Switzerland, where he lives, withdrew their support.

McQuaid claims to have valid nominations from Thailand and Morocco — although those could depend on UCI’s congress approving changes to the body’s statutes before the presidential vote.

“Even if Mr McQuaid falls foul of the nomination process, even if congress says that he doesn’t have a valid nomination, I will still ask for a positive vote in favour of me by the congress,” Cookson said.

“I will not take on the job by default. I don’t want a coronation, I want a proper election and I want to take on the role of UCI president with the full support of the congress.”

McQuaid, however, maintains that he has support from “all five continents” in the congress. He is relying on his years-old relationships with national federations to make his campaign legitimate.

Armstrong’s revelation in January that he doped for most of his stellar career, during which he won the Tour de France a record seven times, have further rocked a sport in dire need of credibility.

The UCI has been accused of covering up Armstrong’s doping.

There are worries the election results could end up in the courts afterwards, if questions about McQuaid’s nomination persist.

And what about former UCI president and current honorary president Hein Verbruggen, who has also been tied to the sport’s shadowy past?

“I want to make it absolutely clear that if I’m elected the UCI will be under new management,” Cookson said.

“I don’t see any involvement of Mr Verbruggen going forward.”

A key point of Cookson’s campaign is the establishment of an independent antidoping body separate from the UCI.

Cookson also wants to set up a “truth and reconciliation” commission to encourage riders, team officials and others with knowledge of cycling’s doping secrets to come forward.

He emphasised the commission would not target only riders. “The kind of doping that we’ve seen in recent generations has not been taking a pill behind the changing rooms or anything like that,” he said.

“This is organised, structured doping with medical procedures, so a lot of people have been involved in these conspiracies. I want to spread the net to include those people and find out all of the truth and not just part of the truth. We need to move forward from that and learn some lessons.”

Cookson said that many of the team managers in prominent positions who have been tied to or admitted to doping during their careers could no longer have a place in the sport.

“One of the things we need to do is establish a test of what is a fit and proper person to be involved in the running of a team, whether that’s a manager, director, doctor, carer, and so on. This is not just about riders.”