Questions were asked following Team Sky's dominance on the first Tour mountain stage on Saturday, though their implosion as a team on Sunday has perhaps poured cold water on some of the debate. Pat McQuaid believes it is unfair of the media to immediately question riders about drugs after they ride well.
UCI president, Pat McQuaid has said it is unfair of the media to immediately question if a rider is on drugs when he or his team is successful.
He bemoaned the fact that at the spring classics and the first mountains stages of the Tour de France in recent days, the first questions the riders had to answer after their performances related to drugs.
While McQuaid did not meantion Team Sky, many of the questions raised in relation to the Tour de France in recent days focussed on the performances of the UK team and its leader Chris Froome, who won Saturday's mountain stage and now leads the race.
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“I think it is unfortunate," said McQuaid of the media's line of questioning.
"I think the riders deserve another thing than to be asked about doping as the first question when they show up in the press conference.”
“I think the media have to understand the riders of today don’t deserve to be judged on the mistakes of their predecessors, of the riders of a generation of the past now. Riders of today need to be respected for what they are trying to do, which is to race clean and race without a doping programme."
“The evidence is there. If you look only at Saturday, when you saw big riders like Cadel Evans and (Alberto) Contador in trouble on the first day in the mountains. In the past, all the favourites came out more or less together from the first mountain stages, and the final battle would be done in the second period of mountains."
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“Here we are after the first mountain stages in the Tour de France, already big catch up has developed between the favourites of the race. So it shows that the riders are human, they have good days and bad days. Richie Porte had a very good day on Saturday and very bad day yesterday. These are evidence that the sport has changed.”
On the day after he released his manifesto to be re-elected for a third term on office as president of the UCI, McQuaid said he believes the doping of the past should not dominate the election.
“This election should not be about what happened 10 years ago. This election should be about cycling today and cycling tomorrow.”
The only man running against him and standing in the way of a third term is British Cycling president Brian Cookson. He said that given McQuaid had already been in office for two terms it was hard to understand why the pledges he has made have not already become a reality.
“Pat has been president of the UCI for two terms,” he said.
“While his manifesto outlines what he believes still needs to be done for the UCI, I think that many people will judge him on his record, and ask why those things haven't been done in the last eight years.”
“Unfortunately under his presidency far too much energy and resource have been devoted to destructive feuding and conflict rather than grabbing hold of the issues, listening to the right people and delivering solutions.”
“In his manifesto he talks about the UCI stakeholders consultation but I think he fails to address the number one critical recommendation - that the UCI 'must take the steps necessary to restore cycling's and its own credibility, in particular in relation to the public perception of cycling's anti-doping measures and current UCI leadership'.”
“It is my belief and that of many others that we need a complete change of leadership in order to successfully achieve this.”
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