More of cycling’s dark past has been exposed
Lance Armstrong and the International Cycling Union (UCI) were guilty of colluding to protect the American cyclist and shield his doping regime from the world, according to a new report.
It claims that over a ten-year period when Armstrong was dominating pro cycling, UCI officials frequently overlooked the Texan’s doping and indeed aided in the cover-up of a positive test at the 1999 Tour de France, the Guardian reports.
It states: ‘The UCI failed to apply its own rules … which constituted a serious breach of its obligations … to govern the sport correctly.’
The report, by the UCI’s Independent Commission for Reform in Cycling (CIRC) adds: ‘There are numerous examples that prove Lance Armstrong benefited from a preferential status afforded by the UCI leadership … UCI did not actively seek to corroborate whether allegations of doping against Lance Armstrong were well-founded [but] fell back to a defensive position as if every attack against Lance Armstrong was an attack against cycling and the UCI leadership … there was a tacit exchange of favours between the UCI leadership and Lance Armstrong, and they presented a common front.’
The report was commissioned by current UCI president Brian Cookson and paints a damning picture of the level of cooperation between Armstrong’s team and former presidents Hein Verbruggen and Irishman Pat McQuaid.
It even alleges that UCI’s legal team aided Armstrong in his lawsuits against The Sunday Times and Irish journalist David Walsh, and while it stopped short of labelling the organisation as corrupt, it does argue that the UCI ‘did not act prudently’ when accepting financial donations from Armstrong.
Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the extent of his doping regime was uncovered, has been undertaking a serious attempt to rehabilitate his image and appeared to accept the findings when he apologised again for his actions in bringing the sport into disrepute.
‘I am grateful to CIRC for seeking the truth and allowing me to assist in that search,’ he said in a statement. ‘I am deeply sorry for many things I have done. However, it is my hope that revealing the truth will lead to a bright, dope-free future for the sport I love, and will allow all young riders emerging from small towns throughout the world in years to come to chase their dreams without having to face the lose-lose choices that so many of my friends, team-mates and opponents faced. I hope that all riders who competed and doped can feel free to come forward and help the tonic of truth heal this great sport.’
However, the report contends that the scourge of doping remains widepsread throughout the peloton, with many of those interviewed unsure to what degree drugs were being used.
‘The commission did not hear from anyone credible in the sport who would give cycling a clean bill of health in the context of doping today. A common response to the commission, when asked about teams, was that probably three or four were clean, three or four were doping, and the rest were a “don’t know”.’
One respondent claimed that up to 90 per cent of pro cyclists were engaged in some form of cheating.
However, not all have welcomed the reports findings.
British cyclist David Millar, who served a doping ban before becoming a loud voice in the battle against drug cheats, believes the claims of prevalent use in today’s peloton ‘falls firmly into the arena of “public shaming” that the report is vehement about removing from the sport.’
Millar who retired at the end of last season, did not speak to the Commission, but in an article in the Telegraph, insists this aspect of the report ‘bears little resemblance to the state and mood of the modern peloton. It feels almost tabloidesque in its description of the state of doping today’.
