Tag: Lance Armstrong

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Skins Put the Squeeze on UCI

Skins, the Australian brand-leading manufacturer of compression wear, have launched legal action against the International Cycling Union (UCI) in the wake of the Lance Armstrong affair, with Chairman Jaimie Fuller accusing them of ‘gross mismanagement’. Skins, who have been involved in world cycling sponsorship for more than five years, are seeking £1.25m from the UCI, claiming, ‘Skins financial and emotional investment into cycling has been damaged and our legitimate commercial expectations have been betrayed.’

 

In a strongly-worded statement Fuller lays out the company’s position, saying, ‘The recent report from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) which blew the lid off Lance Armstrong’s systematic control of widespread doping, proved that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and its two leading figures, President Pat McQuaid and Honorary President For Life, Hein Verbruggen, have failed to eradicate cheating within the sport. In fact, Mr. McQuaid and Mr. Verbruggen refused to even acknowledge that the problem was so entrenched until USADA forced them into submission.‘ Fuller goes on to note: ‘…we say that the UCI, Mr. McQuaid and Mr. Verbruggen have failed us, the sport and the public who love cycling.’

 

To read the full statement from Jaimie Fuller see www.skins.net

 

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Wiggins Gains a Podium Place

Bradley Wiggins, Tour de France, Lance Armstrong, UCIDespite the International Cycling Union declaring that no substitute winners of the Tour de France would stand in place of the now-deposed Lance Armstrong for the consecutive years 1999-2005, they have now announced that results from his comeback season (2009/10) will be reallocated; the upshot for Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins is that his fourth place 2009 Tour de France place is upgraded to a podium third place. The UCI confirmed: ‘In 2009 the placing of Mr Armstrong will be reallocated… Bradley Wiggins is the third-placed rider for the Tour de France, 2009.’

 

This will make for happier news for Sky who have had a fairly torrid couple of weeks with the departure, after their announcement of a zero-tolerance stance on historical drug use, of both Race Coach, Bobby Julich and Sporting Director Steven de Jongh. The team’s lead Sports Director, Sean Yates, has also departed although this is understood to have nothing to do with any previous (or indeed current) wrongdoing, but rather for ‘…purely personal reasons.’

 

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TdF: The Empty Years

20121027-091711.jpgFollowing the International Cycling Union’s announcement that Lance Armstrong would be stripped of his seven Tour de France wins (1999-2005), they have further confirmed that no substitute winners will stand in the now vacant spots. Given the breadth and depth of the scandal – which clearly goes far beyond just Armstrong – the UCI statement confirmed the break with tradition of reallocating first place positions, saying, ’The management committee decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events… a cloud of suspicion would remain hanging over this dark period – but that while this might appear harsh for those who rode clean, they would understand there was little honour to be gained in reallocating places.’

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Another One Bites the Dust

20121027-092526.jpgAfter two seasons as Race Coach, Bobby Julich has left Team Sky after disclosing that he used a banned substance whilst a pro cyclist during the late 1990s. This comes both on the back of the on-going Armstrong scandal and after Sky’s season-end declaration that they would be asking everyone involved on the team to volunteer information about any previous misdemeanour in order to move forward with a completely clean slate. In a statement Team Principal Dave Brailsford said: ’Bobby has shown courage in admitting to the errors he made long before his time with Team Sky. We understand that this is a difficult step for him and we’ve done our best to support him… It’s important to emphasise that there have been no doubts about his work with us or his approach as a coach. He has done a good job and been a good colleague during his two years with us. Bobby has our best wishes for the future.’ Brailsford concluded by saying, ’We’ve made clear our commitment to being a clean team and been open about the steps we’re taking. Although it’s never easy to part, we believe this is the right thing to do.’

 

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Hamilton Attacks McQuaid

That house of cards continues to totter with Tyler Hamilton wading into the chaos of the Armstrong doping scandal by issuing a statement calling for UCI president Pat McQuaid to resign. The former US Postal rider and team-mate of Armstrong accused McQuaid of hypocrisy in his leadership and is quoted as saying, ‘Instead of seizing an opportunity to instil hope for the next generation of cyclists, he continues to point fingers, shift blame and attack those who speak out, tactics that are no longer effective.’ Adding, with a spin on McQuaid’s own comment on Armstrong, ‘Pat McQuaid has no place in cycling.’

 

John Fahey, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has mudded the waters further and clearly demonstrated that no clear line will be drawn under the problems any time soon by calling on the UCI to take further action with regards to exposing the full extent of the problem. Fahey said, ‘They (the UCI) clearly have to take the blinkers off, look at the past, examine the people who are there, ask themselves the questions, “Are those same people still in the sport and can they proceed forward with those people remaining?”’

 

Some time soon Cyclo hope to bring you some non-Armstrong related news…

 

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Armstrong Banned and Stripped of Titles by UCI

The UCI has confirmed that it will sanction the USADA report into doping by Lance Armstrong and effectively wipe him from the (positive) history of the sport.  In a statement they said, ‘It (the UCI) will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed. The UCI will ban Lance Armstrong from cycling and the UCI will strip him of his seven Tour de France titles. Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.’ The statement at the live press conference continued: ‘The UCI will also recognise the sanctions imposed upon the riders that testified against Lance Armstrong, the UCI indeed thanks them for telling their stories… The UCI likewise has nothing to hide in responding to the USADA report’.  The UCI has called a special meeting of the UCI Management Committee to discuss the report and the measures that need put into place to ensure that nothing of this nature again blights the sport.

 

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Rabobank Quit the Game

rabobankThe aftershocks from the Armstrong doping allegations continue to be felt with yesterday’s somewhat shock announcement that Rabobank are to end their team sponsorship deal and walk away from supporting pro cycling after 17 years. Earlier in the week the team had suspended Carlos Barredo after the UCI announced they were to investigate the Spaniard for doping; this, it would appear, was the straw that broke the camels back, with Rabobank’s Bert Bruggink making their position clear, saying, ‘We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport…’

 

Rabobank has enjoyed 23 stage wins across the last 16 Tour de France editions, but have not been beyond historical controversy (their Danish star Michael Rasmussen was banned in 2007). However the Dutch bank’s decision to end their love affair with the sport seems somewhat peculiar – punishing the current, clean crop of riders for the sins of the fathers…

 

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Nike: Just Did It

Lance Armstrong’s spectacular fall from grace continues with the news that three major sponsors have cancelled their deals with him. Trek, Nike and Anheuser-Busch (brewers of Budweiser) have all now formally announced the end of their association with the 41-year-old Texan in the wake of the damning USADA report into doping. Both Trek and Nike are to terminate their deals with immediate effect – Nike’s statement saying, ‘due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Armstrong participated in doping… we have terminated his contract’ – whilst Anheuser-Busch will see out the year but will not renew beyond 2012. Nike’s new position is likely to come as a particular blow less than a week after they vowed to stand by Armstrong and his charity, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

 

Oakley, another of the seven-times Tour de France winner’s sponsors, have taken a slightly different tack, promising to stand by him until charges are proven conclusively; their statement reads: ‘As we have stated in the past, Oakley does not approve in any way the use of illegal substances for enhancing performance in sports… Our policy with our athletes is to support them until proven guilty by the highest governing body of sport or court of law. We are reviewing the extensive report from the Usada, as well as our relationship with Lance, and will await final decision-making by the International Cycling Union…’

 

For his part Armstrong has announced that he is stepping down as chairman of his cancer charity, saying he wished to, ‘spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career.’