#photobomb pic.twitter.com/Tr8R8keGuq
— Fran Millar (@franmillar) June 7, 2015
The tweeted photo of drug ban Bruyneel and former UCI president McQuaid the Belgian has taken issue with.
Vowing not to return to any more high profile cycling events, banned Johan Bruyneel has said a photo of him laughing with Pat McQuaid was staged by David Millar.
The Belgian was banned last year from any involvement in competitive cycling for 10 years after being found to be at “the apex” of the Lance Armstrong doping ring.
However, he attended the Bradley Wiggins hour record ride in London the weekend before last.
He was in the VIP area in the centre of the track. And though he claimed to have bought his ticket for the UCI-sanctioned event, his presence was seen by many as a regressive step for cycling.
A photograph of Bruyneel speaking to a laughing former UCI president McQuaid drew most criticism.
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Bruyneel declined an interview request from Cycling Weekly in recent days but made a number of comments in his reply to the magazine.
“I’m not planning on attending the Tour de France. I’m not planning on attending other cycling events either,” he said.
McQuaid and Bruyneel when the Irish man was UCI president and the Belgian was managing Lance Armstrong's Radioshack (Photo: Sirotti)
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“The Wiggins event was the first and only event I’ve been at in almost three years," Bruyneel added.
“Everyone I saw at the event, who I knew, (were) very friendly and welcoming, including Miguel Indurain and some other ex-colleagues.
“The ones who needed to avoid me have made sure to do so, like David Millar, who was silly enough to go pose in a staged picture of Pat McQuaid and myself, taken and posted by his sister,” Bruyneel said in reference to Millar’s sister Fran sharing the photo on Twitter.
Millar was in the background of the shot but seemed aware the photo was being taken. And when it was shared on Twitter it was tagged #photobomb.
Bruyneel claims the negative reaction after the emergence of the photograph did no reflect the way he had been treated since his ban.
“In general, away from cycling events, people have been very kind and friendly on a personal level. I haven’t met one single person with a negative attitude towards me.”
Some of the comment from cycling fans on social media pointed out that while Bruyneel was banned and McQuaid’s term in office and relationship with Armstrong had been criticised, Millar had served a drugs ban.
The Briton admitted to French police investigating his then team Cofidis in 2004 that he had taken EPO.
He was banned for two years but returned to cycling and has spoken out publicly against drugs and written about his own case in his autobiography. He retired at the end of last year.
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