Kimmage loses Verbruggen case; must pay damages & McQuaid legal fees

Paul Kimmage has lost his legal battle with former UCI president Hein Verbruggen after more than four years.

Former pro cyclist turned journalist Paul Kimmage has lost his legal battle with Hein Verbruggen, the man who was president of the UCI before Pat McQuaid.

The ruling comes more than four years after the process began and followed a court hearing in Switzerland last month.

Kimmage must pay Verbruggen 12,000 Swiss Francs – around €11,000 – including legal fees.

And the Dubliner has already been held liable for the legal fees of McQuaid and the UCI after they were originally part of the case.

The libel case began nearly 4½ years ago in 2011 when McQuaid was still UCI president.

He, along with Verbruggen and the UCI, began the action saying Kimmage had libelled them in remarks he had made in interviews and had written in his work as a journalist.

Kimmage accused them or corruption in the alleged cover-up of positive dope tests, including Armstrong using a backdated TUE to beat a positive test for steroids at the 1999 Tour de France.

The case was discontinued when the UCI was in crisis as an Independent Commission investigation was launched after USADA’s banning of Armstrong.

McQuaid was running for re-election at the time; early 2012.

Kimmage launched his own counter legal action in 2013 alleging slander and defamation against Verbruggen and McQuaid but both actions were dismissed.

And in late 2014 Verbruggen recommenced his portion of the case against Kimmage, though the UCI and McQuaid – by now deposed by Brian Cookson – did not join him.

A hearing was held last month and today, Friday, Kimmage posted the judgement on his Twitter account.

The court ruled in Verbruggen’s favour, finding Kimmage had libelled him.