UCI president Pat McQuaid has said another “couple” of scandal-free seasons like that enjoyed in 2011 would restore the credibility of cycling following the drugs crisis of recent years.
His comments come in the wake of similar remarks by World Champion Mark Cavendish who this week said cycling had become so much cleaner that “nobody's bouncing around fresh as a daisy” after hard races anymore.
Ireland’s McQuaid said while the sport’s reputation had not yet been fully repaired, the past season had greatly helped cycling’s image.
“I don’t think we’ve completely restored the credibility. We still need another couple of years like we had this year and then we can safely say we’ve restored the credibility.”
“All the work we have been doing in recent years is starting to pay off now. The deterrent is very much the biological passport; the no-needles policy likewise… it helps to change and get rid of the culture of doping in the sport.”
Advertisement
Aside from the drugs issue, McQuaid believes the Olympic Games taking place in London next year is very significant for the sport generally. He said over the past decade cycling had become Great Britain’s most important Olympic sport.
“The interest that there’s going to be… beginning with the road race on the first day, the level of interest is just going to be incredible.”
Related News
During the last Olympics the number of men’s cycling events was more than double those for women. This gender imbalance has now been addressed and McQuaid believed this was very positive.
“In Beijing there were seven events for men and three for women. It’s five and five now… it’s the proper and correct objective. We can see already since it was announced a couple of years ago, the standard of women’s cycling has gone up because federations and Olympic committees and sports councils around the world are investing in women’s cycling.”
He also pointed to the further spread of cycling to regions of the world not traditionally associated with the sport as a key development over the past year.
“The globalisation is working very well; the sport is developing on the other Continents. The Tour of Beijing was a very big success in its first year and will grow into a much bigger race.”
“And likewise, we see athletes now being signed by top pro teams from Iran and Eretria, different parts of the world. So that’s happening, but there’s still a lot to be done.”
In general terms, he believed the 2011 professional road season was one of the best he has ever witnessed.
“I think the competition has been excellent all year long, starting with the Classics… and then into the Giro, the Tour and the Tour of Spain, and then finishing up with a magnificent World Championships in Copenhagen.”
“The public have come out in their thousands upon thousands to watch (racing) and on television at home the figures were up at most of the events all year. That’s road cycling only, but the other disciplines have been very successful too.”
Topics
