McQuaid elected UCI president

by VeloNews.com

• September 23, 2005
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By Agence France Presse

Irishman Pat McQuaid was elected the new president of cycling’s world governing body at the 174th congress of the UCI at the world road race championships in Madrid on Friday.

McQuaid, 56, replaces 64-year-old Dutchman Hein Verbruggen, who has been world cycling’s chief for the past 14 years but was nominated an honorary life-long president.

Four candidates were originally scheduled to stand for election, although Malaysian Darshan Singh withdrew his candidacy during his 10-minute presentation.

Spaniard Gregorio Moreno, supported by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC), was McQuaid’s only other rival on the day after Verbruggen also withdrew his candidature.

Moreno received 11 votes to McQuaid’s 31 from the 42 voting delegates.

Verbruggen, who has been under fire for the past few weeks from several detractors of the UCI, remains a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He is currently the chairman of the co-ordination committee for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

McQuaid is a former professional cyclist, president of the Irish federation and race organizer who has been a member of the UCI management committee since 1997 and has helped to further develop the sport in Asia.

He will begin his four-year term immediately, and said that one of his goals was to further develop and nurture talent on the continents of Asia, Africa and America while simultaneously promoting the concept of the ProTour series.

“It’s a wonderful moment for me – I’m honored and humbled you’ve elected me as president,” McQuaid told members of the management committee. “Thank you to the voting delegates. I will repay your support in the coming years. I come from only a small federation, but it is one with a big tradition in our sport. This shows that the cycling family is all-encompassing and embraces its members.”

The ProTour has been one of the sticking points of cycling since Verbruggen introduced it for the current season, and McQuaid admitted he would be looking to “use a more Irish approach” to resolving the issues which have split the major players in the cycling world.

An Irish approach
Verbruggen, who has long had the reputation of a political street fighter has often tried to shut down rivals through intimidation. The usually affable McQuaid said he has an inherently different style when it comes to negotiation.

“I will try and bring a different approach, maybe,” McQuaid said. “An Irish approach to it might do it. We have some good politicians in Ireland, who have done some good jobs – like the presidency of the European Commission – and we have a slightly different approach to things.”

“In other words, maybe we’ll do the negotiations in the bar than in the office!” he quipped.

McQuaid said his immediate goal was to ensure that “the ProTour problem” would not weigh down his four-year term.

“You have to accept that I’ve just become president today. I’ve been president of the (UCI) road commission for the past eight years and I haven’t been directly involved in those (ProTour) negotiations,” McQuaid told AFP. “I now will come into them, as of today. Certainly, it is an urgent issue. But we have some time now,” he said, referring to an agreement brokered late Thursday between the UCI and the organizers of the three big three-week Tours.

According to the agreement, a status quo for 2006 means that in theory further negotiations on resolving the issues of both parties will be put on the back burner.

“We’ve come to an agreement for 2006, so we have some breathing space,” said McQuaid whose other field of interest is to continue to develop the sport in developing continents.

Verbruggen, in charge of the UCI for 14 years and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member who will now concentrate on his role as chairman of the Beijing co-ordination committee, was often seen as volatile and inflexible by those trying to negotiate with him.

The organizers of several major races, and most notably the three three-week Tours of Italy, France and Spain, are still at loggerheads with the UCI over the reforms the UCI has introduced.

Tour de France managing director Patrice Clerc warned Thursday the ProTour could never overshadow the world’s biggest cycle race. However Verbruggen affirmed that both parties had recently spoken of trying to resolve the issues which have caused the split.

“September 23, 2004 was a dramatic day for me. That was when I received a letter from the three organizers of the big Tours saying they did not agree with the ProTour series only two days after agreeing to it,” said Verbruggen. “That was exactly a year ago, and I am pleased to say that after speaking with the organizers last night we are working towards resolving some of the remaining issues.”

The Dutchman added he would remain close to the UCI, but was now fully focused on his job as chairman of the Beijing co-ordination committee.

“If the (UCI) management committee agrees, I might remain attached to the UCI to stay with my job in the IOC, although I would like to keep some distance and not be looking over the shoulder of the new president,” Verbruggen said. “If I am going to stay, it won’t be for long. After 2008 (Olympics), my job in sport will be over. I will retire and this is something which I’ve planned long in advance.

“I’m very happy with the election of Pat (McQuaid) – and I’m confident he can guide you and lead you as it should be. Over the last few months, it was difficult,” added Verbruggen referring to the numerous complaints from UCI members that the election was a done deal before it was held. “We were attacked, but I think we seen today we have come out winners.”

Last year, in the face of the Tour de France’s firm stance on its opposition to the Pro Tour series in its current form, Verbruggen warned the Tour would be thrown out of the 25-race series – a threat which the organizers of the world’s biggest and most powerful race took largely with a grain of salt.

Unfair advantage?
Claims that McQuaid was given an unfair advantage over potential election rivals surfaced when Sylvia Schenk, the former president of the German cycling federation (BDR) alleged that McQuaid was being paid a salary while living in an apartment near the UCI headquarters in Switzerland.

He admitted living in an apartment, but denied the charge that he was being paid any money by the governing body – which is against its own rules. Malaysia’s Singh, a former member of the Asian Cycling Confederation, then threw his hat into the ring for the election – but withdrew it during his allotted 10-minute presentation on Friday.

Spaniard Moreno, whose candidacy was supported by the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC), won only 11 of the votes after he emerged as McQuaid’s only rival Friday.

The Irishman admitted he had been concerned about the potential fallout from the weeks of allegations and backbiting aimed at the UCI in the run-up to the vote.

“I wasn’t necessarily worried about any other candidates – I was more worried about some of the strategies that were put in place to try and get me excluded from the election,” explained McQuaid. “I think they were completely unfair, unwarranted and unjustified. I wasn’t necessarily worried, because I think that right always prevails in the end.

“That said, I was very nervous sitting down in that chair, I can tell you. In an election anything can happen. It’s a secret ballot and you never really know,” he said. “People can say things to you … If everybody who told me they were going to vote for me did, then I would have had 42 votes today.”