The last well-known former cyclist to be seen in this T-shirt was Lance Armstrong.
The Cycle Ataxia charity sportive last month courted Lance Armstrong – and the controversy that comes with him - when it requested he be photographed in one of its T-shirts.
Armstrong duly obliged and sent the photo back to event organiser Barry Rice, with his permission to use the image in fundraising activities.
Rice said it was only when he had the picture of the disgraced star in his hands that he started asking around properly about Armstrong and realised the extent of his deceit.
He decided to phone Joe Duffy’s Liveline programme on RTE Radio 1 and ask the public if the event should use the image.
Lance Armstrong in the controversial photo he agreed to wear to help out a small Irish charity sportive.
Advertisement
The show's host, Duffy, threw the question open to one of its text-in polls.
Of the 1,513 text votes received, a very significant majority of 77.5 per cent of respondents said the photos shouldn’t be used.
Related News
The other 22.5 suggested Rice should fire ahead.
It decided to abandon the idea of using the Armstrong image, but not before the media coverage of the issue had raised the cycle’s profile in a manner Rich could only have dreamed of.
Barry Rice, who suffers from ataxia - a rare nerve wasting condition - has gotten more publicity for his charity sportive than he could have dreamed of. And now he also has Stephen Roche on board.
Now Ireland’s only elite world road champion and Tour de France winner Stephen Roche has stepped into the breach.
Rice, who suffers from ataxia himself and came to public notice last year when his recumbent bike was stolen, contacted Roche on Twitter looking for help, just he had done with Armstrong.
And now it seems it will be Roche’s face rather than Armstrong’s that will adorn the charity’s fundraising efforts.
The Cycle Ataxia sportive raises money for people who suffer from the rare nerve wasting condition.
Topics
