Pat McQuaid: has become the story & Kimmage case now a referendum on McQuaid's presidency

   

Showing amazing ineptitude, Pat McQuaid, 'president' of the UCI  has managed to make himself the story this week. Rather than starting to clear up the mess revealed by the USADA report, McQuaid has stirred up an EPO driven hornets' nest by calling Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton 'scumbags' for eventually telling the truth about their doping along with Armstrong's. Hardly presidential language!

At the UCI press conference on Monday McQuaid had the chance to provide a lead – a reassurance that UCI would be striving to make as sure as possible that doping would be eradicated as far as possible from the sport. McQuaid managed the easy part stripping Lance Armstrong of his Tour victories and accepting the USADA life ban. But that was as good as it got.

UCI will continue to take money from riders, who they are supposed to be policing, despite all the grief that Armstrong's donations to the UCI have caused. No chance of moving on by dropping the foolish and vengeful legal action against Paul Kimmage. It then transpired that the UCI's endorsement of the USADA report was much less ringing than MacQuaid present it to the world's press. This reinforcing the impression that the UCI would have preferred that USADA never assembled a case against Armstrong and that during the Armstrong's years the UCI turned a blind eye to what was going on. No wonder the USADA released their case against Armstrong to the world leaving the UCI little option but to accept its findings and verdict on Armstrong.          

Little wonder that there are now calls for McQuaid to stand down – firstly from Tyler Hamilton and then, much more credibly, from triple winner Greg Lemond.

Day by day the action against Paul Kimmage becomes a bigger and bigger PR disaster for McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen. The Kimmage defense fund, which was started on 20th September, has now reached $81,448.50 with donations from 2724 people all voting against McQuaid and Verbruggen. Perhaps predictably McQuaid has been shredded on twitter with his reputation now toast.
 
Time for McQuaid and Verbruggen to go. Whether they will is quite another matter. Chances are that, like Sapp Splatter, they will cling limpet-like to their posts devoid of any credibility. 

Views on McQuaid: here (Richard Williams-Guardian), Greg Lemond's open letter and comment here.     

UCI v USADA: Here 

Michael Ashenden: The curious tale of Armstrong's donations to the UCI.

Which clean riders might have won the Armstrong Tours– 1999-2005? 

26.10.12 am: Paul Kimmage Defense fund is now $82,651.50 from 2762 donors. Donate here.


26.10.12 pm: Paul Kimmage Defense fund is now $83126.50 from 2782 donors. Donate here.

UCI: accept USADA report – 'Armstrong has no place in cycling'

Pat McQuaid, president of UCI announces at press conference in Geneva:

'Lance Armstrong banned for life and stripped of his seven tour victories by UCI. Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.'

The Tour de France organisers must be breathing a sigh of relief as details of the 100th Tour are due to be announced on Wednesday. The Tour de France organisers are now seeking the return of the prize money from Armstrong for the seven Tour victories. Christian Prudhomme, the director of le Tour, has reiterated that he wants there now to be no winner of the Tour between 1999 and 2005.   

UCI Management meeting on Friday to decide about prize money and address other aspects of the USADA report. 

Armstrong may well now find that The Sunday Times (libel action) and the insurance company who had to pay out for his Tour victories will now start legal actions against him. Plus possibility of trial for perjury in US leading to possible jail sentence. Armstrong could fall further.  

Following the UCI announcement, Oakley sunglasses have cut ties with Armstrong – sponsorship ends immediately. 

Although McQuaid rejects complicity by UCI, although he wasn't president then, what happens now to the court case against Paul Kimmage? 

Answer:
Will legal action continue against journalist Paul Kimmage? "The case against Kimmage is nothing to do with Usada and Armstrong," says McQuaid. "It's about a journalist who accused me and my predecessor of being corrupt. It's a straight defamation case." 

Will UCI now be returning all donations made by Armstrong? McQuaid says UCI will still accept donations from current riders – so this dreadful conflict of interest will continue. 

One positive result of McQuaid UCI press conference today is that it has helped to boost the Paul Kimmage defense fund to $64,551.54 from 2108 donors.* 

Update on total (18.00 BST): $65,257.54 from 2139 donors.

Cycle doping: UCI, Paul Kimmage + bigger than Armstrong

Cyclist fuelled on red wine@Pauillac

So the UCI is due to give its considered reaction on Monday (22nd October) to the USADA report on Lance Armstrong, which was published on Wednesday 10th October. Although it is only 10 days since the report was published, events have moved fast leaving the UCI behind. To be fair to the UCI they could hardly have given an instant reaction to the USADA report with its many appendices running to over a 1000 pages. If the UCI had instantly accepted the report they might well have left them open to legal action from Armstrong's lawyer for being over hasty. As it is the UCI are giving their response well within the statutory period of 21 days allowed – deadline 31st October.    

Unfortunately for the UCI events have moved on – Armstrong has lost many of his sponsors – Nike, Trek etc. only Oakley sunglasses remain on board. He has resigned as chairman of his charity Livestrong. Johan Bruyneel has been sacked as manager of RadioShack-Nissan, Matt White has stepped down as sports director of Orica-GreenEDGE and from Cycling Australia, while Levi Leipheimer  who admitted doping in his testimony to the USADA has been sacked by Omega-Pharma-QuickStep. On Friday Rabobank, a long-term sponsor.   

Christian Prudhomme of the Tour de France has accepted that Armstrong should lose his seven victories, although Prudhomme's organisation does not have the power to strip him of these victories. Instead it is down to the UCI.

What will the UCI decide to do with the USADA report? They can either accept it or ask for it to go to arbitration. Difficult decision for the UCI, especially as the report includes testimony alleging that the UCI covered up positive tests for Armstrong. Given the reaction against Armstrong should the UCI decide to go to arbitration the criticism the organisation already faces is only likely to grow. 

Perhaps they will accept the bulk of the report thus stripping Armstrong of his victories, while rejecting the accusations of complicity in the scandal. 

What of the impending court case against Paul Kimmage due to be heard in Switzerland in December? Will Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid drop the action? The defense fund in support of Kimmage has now reached $63,543.52 from 2078 donors. If Verbruggen and McQuaid plough on with this foolish action the fund is likely to grow more rapidly as the trial date approaches and some deep pockets may be prepared to contribute.         

All the time there is perhaps an even bigger scandal involving Dr Michele Ferrari being uncovered in Italy  

  

The World According to Lance: gripping TV programme

Four Corners TV programme on ABC:

'After winning the Tour de France seven times in a row, Lance Armstrong might well have been the greatest sportsman of all time.

Not only had he won the most coveted of all cycling races, he had done so after recovering from advanced testicular cancer.

Lance Armstrong maintains he has never used performance enhancing drugs.

He claims he has never tested positive in hundreds of drug tests.

Many who know him well now say he is lying.' 

**

The Paul Kimmage defense fund has now reached $63,378.52 with contributions from 2071 donors. It is great that so many cycle fans have supported Paul and this surely represents an increasing vote of no confidence in McQuaid and Verbruggen and their running of the UCI. But how many pro cyclists, especially those who built their careers on doping, have contributed?  

 

Lance Armstrong and Jimmy Savile: fallen heroes

The names of two fallen heroes have featured widely in the headlines this week: Lance Armstrong and Jimmy Savile. Although the alleged offences are very different, the two cases do have things in common. 

Both Savile and Armstrong were famous (admittedly Savile's fame was probably largely confined to the UK), which made those in the know reluctant to come forward, and Britain's libel laws may well have helped to hide the truth. In Armstrong's case there was a libel case following the publication of an article by David Walsh in The Sunday Times, which was eventually settled out of court in Armstrong's favour. The Sunday Times is now reported to be considering taking action to get that money back, said to be around £1 million including costs. Both Armstrong and Savile raised large sums for charity, which provided protection. Savile may well have chosen those charitable acts that put him in a position to abuse children.

As well as The Sunday Times revisiting the libel settlement, Armstrong may also face legal action from SCA Promotions who were reluctant to pay out $5 million on Armstrong's sixth Tour victory in 2004 because of suspicions of drug-taking. The Federal investigation against Armstrong may perhaps be reopened and he could face perjury charges at having denied ever doping in court. In the meantime Nike continues to support him – will avoid buying Nike in the futute, although I can't recall having brought their products in the past.      

The fallout from the extraordinarily detailed case against Armstrong released by the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) continues to reverberate. Johan Bruyneel has been dismissed/left by mutual consent from his job as boss of the Radioshack team, while Matt White, sport director at Orica-GreenEdge, has also resigned over his doping past.  Unfortunately their likely successors are both reported to have failed drug tests while competing. 

 

The UCI (International Cycling Union) has yet to decide what to do. They have 21 days from receiving the USADA report (10th October 2012) to decide whether to accept it or go to arbitration. It will be difficult for them not to accept it but the USADA report repeats the accusations made by Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton that the UCI know about Armstrong's doping, covered up postive tests and accepted a large donation from Armstrong. Exactly the accusations over which the UCI, Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen took Floyd Landis to a Swiss court and will be taking Paul Kimmage to in December. 

If the UCI accept the USADA report can they really continue to take Kimmage to court? If McQuaid and Verbruggen had any sense they would have dropped the case by now not least in recognition of the role that Kimmage played in exposing Armstrong's doping. Left to the UCI nothing would have happened with Verbruggen only last year insisting that Armstrong had never doped!     

Kimmage's defense fund has now past $61,000 ($61,740.95)* with contributions from 2001 donors. If the UCI continues its action this total will surely grow substantially – I will certainly be making a further contribution. This steady increase in the Paul Kimmage fund not only reflects support for a journalist singled out by a powerful association but is more and more becoming a vote of no-confidence by cycling fans in the UCI. What a PR disaster for UCI!  

David Millar has called for Verbruggen to resign, while Christian Prudhomme, boss of the Tour de France, wants there to be no winner between 1999 and 2005 (the seven Armstrong years) as it is almost impossible to find a top contender in those years who was clean. Many have also called for McQuaid to go, too.          

    

There have been articles on those brave enough to speak out years ago about the doping – Betsy Andreu, Emma O'Reilly and Filippo Simeoni.    

Sadly the veteran broadcaster, Phil Liggett, made himself look ridiculous at the end of August with his attack on the USADA calling the organisation 'nefarious'. Retirement may beckon. 

Further coverage on SteepHill here.  

15.10.12: * Paul Kimmage Defense Fund is now over $62,000 ($62,060.95) with contributions from 2019 donors.

      

The U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy

2010 Le Tour de France@Pauillac

The USADA will be releasing later today (now available see below) the evidence collected against Lance Armstong and the US Postal Service Team. This will be after they have sent the document to the UCI. 

Statement From USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart Regarding The U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy

(Extracts from the statement)

‘Today, we are sending the ‘Reasoned Decision’ in the Lance Armstrong case and supporting information to the Union Cycliste International (UCI), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.  

The evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming and is in excess of 1000 pages, and includes sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the US Postal Service Team (USPS Team) and its participants’ doping activities. The evidence also includes direct documentary evidence including financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong and confirm the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in funding.’

‘It took tremendous courage for the riders on the USPS Team and others to come forward and speak truthfully. It is not easy to admit your mistakes and accept your punishment. But that is what these riders have done for the good of the sport, and for the young riders who hope to one day reach their dreams without using dangerous drugs or methods.

These eleven (11) teammates of Lance Armstrong, in alphabetical order, are Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie*, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.’ 

‘Lance Armstrong was given the same opportunity to come forward and be part of the solution. He rejected it.’

The full statement is here. 

Statement from George Hincapie on his site here.

Also statement from Christian van de Velde here.

The USADA's document – reasoned decision is available here. 

Wikipedia: Dope and the winners of the Tour de France.

Jonathan Vaughters on cycle sport doping reform in Bicycling

 

Two days ago Bicycling carried a long interview here with Jonathan Vaughters, team boss of Garmin. Vaughters talks in details of his doping, the pressures to dope, why he quit and the continued need for doping reform and vigilance.

This insightful piece is particularly important in the light of Lance Armstrong's decision not to submit to arbitration over the accusations of doping over many years, despite having his legal complaint that the process was unfair being thrown out by a Texas court, albeit with some reservations. 

If the USO (organisers of the Tour de France) and the UCI do follow USADA's example and strip Armstrong of his seven Tour wins, it will as many have already acknowledged be hard to award his victories to anyone else given that blood doping now appears to have been widespread at that time with Armstrong being the only most successful. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to award the Tour 1999-2005 to EPO.   

Lance Armstrong stops fight against USADA doping charges

Lance Armstrong has ceased to fight the doping charges brought by the USADA but maintains his innocence.

Story here plus statement by Armstrong here. Comment here.

Doping in cycling: arresting piece by Jonathan Vaughters + dispositions in Armstrong case

The subject of doping is again coming to prominence with a piece by Jonathan Vaughters, once a team mate of Lance Armstrong and now boss of the Garmin team, which coincides with the expected ruling this coming week by Judge Strauss in the Armstrong/USADA case.  

Vaughters tells here in The New York Times of the pressure to dope in the 1990s and early 2000s. He claims it was then easy to circumvent dope tests: 'When I was racing in the 1990s and early 2000s, the rules were easily circumvented by any and all — and if you wanted to be competitive, you first had to keep up.'

Velonation has details here of the latest moves in the Lance Armstrong/USADA case including WADA's backing of the USADA position.  

2012 Tour de France: doping comes to the fore on the rest day

Very sadly on a day when it's a great opportunity to celebrate and look back on the performances of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and other stars in this year's Tour de France, doping has again reared its ugly head on several fronts. 

French rider Rémy Di Grégorio (Cofidis) was arrested by French police at his hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse on suspicion of being involved in doping and is now in police custody in Marseille for questioning. After yesterday's time trial Di Grégorio was lying 35th – 18.70 minutes down. The police investigation started last June, so it is not clear whether Di Grégorio was arrested for past offences or whether he continued to dope while on this year's Tour. There are suggestions that a call to a dealer may have been intercepted by the police. Di Grégorio has been suspended by Cofidis and will be fired if he has been involved in doping. Di Grégorio previously rode for Astana. Cofidis will be staying in the race. 

Meanwhile the Lance Armstrong case continues to make waves. Yesterday Armstrong's lawyers tried without to stop the USADA action: 

Lance Armstrong has launched a legal action against USADA. Story here.

The Judge dismissed Armstong's action but he may file again within 20 days. Story here. Judge threw out the case as an over-long rant (80 pages).

Today the USADA has announced the imposition of life-time bans on Dr Michele Ferrari, Dr Luis Garcia del Mora and José Marti for their anti-doping rule violations in the United States Postal Service (USPS) Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy. Details here. 

The USADA's announcement also says that: 'The other respondents in this case have either asked for and been granted a five-day extension to complete their response, or have requested to move forward with an arbitration hearing'. The others involved in the case are Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, currently team manager of RadioShack, and Pedro Celaya, RadioShack's team doctor. 

**

I hope and trust that cycling has indeed been cleaned up and turned a corner and that Di Grégorio is an isolated rider who does not understand that the sport has changed.   

   

2012 Tour de France: Rouen to Saint-Quentin: flat stage to be overshadowed by Lance Armstrong news

Today's 196.5 kilometre flat stage from Rouen to Saint-Quentin should provide Mark Cavendish an opportunity to make up for the possible stage win he missed in Rouen yesterday due to the mass crash within the last three kilometres. There are no classified climbs. It looks like the finish is slightly uphill rising 28 metres over the last kilometre with the last corner 1300 metres from the finishing line. There should be no change to the overall standing, although the weather might play a part with thundery showers forecast accompanied by gusts up to 65K.

The stage will surely be overshadowed by the breaking news naming the six people who have testified against Lance Armstrong. This includes four of Armstrong's former team mates: George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie. The four are reported to have confessed to doping and will be banned from racing for six months from the start of the 2013 season. This means that they can continue riding the Tour de France. They had apparently recently withdrawn from the Olympics. Jonathan Vaughters, current manager of Garmin-Sharp, is also said to have testified against Armstrong. The story was broken by De Telegraaf. If correct the fact that Hincapie and Leipheimer have testified against Armstrong looks decidedly damaging, although Armstrong's lawyers are likely to point to the delayed six months suspensions.  

Hincapie, who is competing in his 17th Tour de France, is currently riding in support of Cadel Evans, last year's Tour winner. 

Jonathan Vaughters has denied on Twitter that any of his riders – Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie now ride for Garmin – have been given a six month suspension. See also. Hincapie is reported to have declined to comment. Cyclingnews now has a comment by Travis Tygart, head of the USADA, here, while Lance Armstrong's reaction is here. Interesting and thought-provoking article – Lance Armstrong: the end by Edward Pickering in Cycle Sport online here. Interesting to see which parts of the story are being denied and which parts aren't and by whom!  


Update@14.45: Mark Cavendish wins the bunch intermediate sprint picking up 11 points after the four breakaways had taken the major spoils. Peter Sagan added another 8 points. Hope we get a sprint at the end without crashes today.     

 

2012 Tour de France: the Prologue

Little time for a bottle of red during the Prologue! 

At 14.00 (CET) Tom Veelers will head down the ramp and be the first rider to start the short, full-out 6.4 kilometre ride through the streets of Liège. The course is virtually flat with four roundabouts to negotiate – two which should be possible to sweep through as long as it stays dry and two with 180˚ turns. The forecast this afternoon is overcast around 21˚C with a wind speed of 30K veering from the south to south west during the afternoon. This may make the final kilometre or so particularly tough.

Riders will follow Veelers at one minute intervals until the last man sets off, the 198th rider – Cadel Evans as last year's Tour winner – at 17.17. Most of the favourites for the Prologue are towards the end: Dave Zabriskie (16.49), Peter Sagan (16.50 – the very promising young rider), Tony Martin (16.58), Denis Menchov (17.04), Jurgen van den Broeck (17.06 – Georges Meekers's tip for yellow), Bradley Wiggins (17.07), Fabian Cancellara (17.16 – Fabian won his first Tour stage, the 2004 Prologue, here in Liège) followed by last man Evans. Frank Schleck is off at 16.54 – how much time will he lose?     

My guess for the winner: I'll play safe and go for either Tony Martin or Fabian Cancellara with Martin my marginal favourite, although it would be good to see Cancellara repeat his 2004 triumph and get Yellow for the first full stage. I will be surprised if Evans and Wiggins are far behind. 


Details of where you can find live coverage here on steephillTV.

Also Le Journal du Tour.

**

Multiple Tour winner, Lance Armstrong, has been formally charged with doping between 1999 and 2011. Details here.