Pat McQuaid says he has done a lot for cycling in his two terms as UCI president and has now set out his plans for a third term should he be re-elected in September.
UCI president, Pat McQuaid has launched his campaign to be re-elected for a third term in office, saying he had "introduced the most sophisticated and effective anti-doping infrastructure in world sport" that other codes were now following.
The Irishman also issued a warning that the sport globally would suffer an Olympics blow and national federation suffer a funding blow if he does not retain his post.
In a statement today, Monday, outlining his vision for the future, McQuaid described his position as an International Olympic Council member as “an asset to cycling”.
He added cycling would lose its IOC member and his “voice and influence in successfully resisting calls for cycling to be dropped from the Olympic programme” were he not be re-elected as UCI president.
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He suggested having his voice on the IOC to protect cycling’s interests reached far beyond the sport's continued inclusion, or the extent of that inclusion, in the summer Games.
He underlined the fact that cycling’s national federations depend on the sport’s position as a ‘core sport’ in the Olympic and Paralympic Games to secure funding from their respective Governments.
His manifesto – ‘A Bright Future for Cycling’ – includes plans under a number of broad headings, covering the fight against doping, the development of women’s racing, and the further globalisation of the sport.
“I am delighted to launch my re-election campaign and to present my vision for cycling’s future to the cycling family whose support over the past eight years has enabled me to transform our sport,” said McQuaid.
“Cycling has changed since I was first elected as UCI president in 2005. It is now a global sport. It is now possible to race and win clean. We have traveled a great distance together and we must never turn back from cycling’s bright future."
“My mission now is to preserve the changed culture within the peloton and team entourage. I have introduced the most sophisticated and effective anti-doping infrastructure in world sport to cycling. Our sport is leading the way and I am proud that other sports are following in its footsteps.”
“The UCI now invests over $7.5 million a year to keep our sport clean and to catch and prosecute those riders who refuse to embrace the new culture of clean cycling. The misdeeds of a few should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of cycling or today’s riders,” he added.
McQuaid, whose proposed nomination by Cycling Ireland to run for election was voted down at an EGM last month but who has secured a nomination from the Swiss, which is now subject to challenge, has set out four priorities for the next four years.
These are: to preserve the new culture and era of clean cycling; to ensure equality in cycling through the development of women’s cycling; to modernise the way cycling is presented as a global sport; to foster the global development of cycling.
On the first objective of “preserving the new culture and era of clean cycling”, he says he wants to increase the independence of the UCI’s Cycling Anti Doping Foundation (CADF). Part of this, he says, will mean completing the process to appoint an independent board and locating the CADF outside of the UCI.
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He also wants to bolster funding for catching dopers and has proposed increasing the contributions paid by UCI World Tour teams to anti-doping to fund and increase the independence of the CADF.
He has pledged an independent audit of the UCI’s actions during the years when Lance Armstrong was winning the Tour de France.
That latter point, if followed through, would essentially complete the process derailed when the independent commission established by the UCI to inquire into the world governing body’s handling of Armstrong ground to a halt.
Under his second heading of ensuring equality in cycling through the development of women’s cycling, the Irishman said in order to develop that side of the sport more fully he would separate women’s cycling from the existing UCI road commission and establish a new UCI women’s commission.
“I will bring a new focus to the development of women’s cycling. It is not acceptable that women in cycling do not receive the same pay, prize money and conditions as men. It is past time for this inequality to be brought to an end,” he said.
In his manifesto he has also committed himself to developing a new global women’s elite race calendar that is easy to understand and to prioritise for WorldTour status those teams and events that include a women’s team or women’s race in their plans.
He also includes in his manifesto the aspiration of “encouraging more women to hold decision-making positions in cycling”.
When setting out his plans to modernise the sport as part of the third of his four pillars, he makes clear his opposition to the establishment of any private series or league within the sport.
“The greatest cycling races on the global stage have been fought out in Europe for generations. Their place on the cycling calendar should never be sidelined or replaced by a so-called ‘Champions League of Cycling’ which does nothing to promote the global development of our sport” he said.
He wants to reform the system that allocates and distributes UCI World Tour points and to introduce cameras on bikes and helmets and promote GPS rider tracking to produce real time data for race fans.
Under the final heading of globalising the sport, McQuaid notes that the UCI World Tour peloton is now made up of riders from 44 countries, while the number of races and teams competing across all five UCI continents has increased significantly.
He wants to expand the UCI’s Continental and National Federations Department to support confederations in professionalising their administration and marketing. He has also pledged to expand the role and activities of the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland as a ‘University of Cycling’
McQuaid is running for the presidency against British Cycling president Brian Cookson, with the election to be held at the World Road Cycling Championships in Florence, Italy, in September.
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