UCI

The Brave New World Series Cycling

The Gifted Group’s Jonathan Price has been briefing sections of the cycling media about the plans for the “World Series Cycling” formerly known as the Breakaway League but now a scheme that the UCI has granted with an exclusive agreement to negotiate. The grand tours and the big one day races will remain on the calendar but will be joined by a series of 10 new events, each a four day stage race.

Cycling is rooted in history, a conservative sport where change is slow. So there’s bound to be some concern and resistance about these brave new plans for the sport. Even if they were a master-plan with the Midas touch, they’re radically different to anything we know so they’re bound to disturb us.

But based on the information we’ve been given it’s hard not to be sceptical about these plans as they seem to offer a bland product that’s packaged for sponsors and TV with formulaic format that worries me. Clearly it’s all about design and implementation but fans have every right to be cautious here. Especially since these plans are no longer theory but actively under consideration by the UCI with the idea of launch in 2014.

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World Tour: FDJ, Lotto, Argos and Saxo In, Katusha Fired

Weeks ago the UCI announced four teams were competing for final three places in the UCI World Tour and the lottery winners are FDJ, Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano and Saxo Bank all stay in.

This arithmetic only works thanks to the sensational news that Katusha have been ejected and are left hoping to become a Pro Continental team for 2013.

Katusha look to be the big loser but it’s the system itself that takes a hit too. Plus on a secondary level smaller teams like Cofidis, Vini Fantini, MTN-Qhubeka or NetApp-Endura will find their chances of doing the big races shrink.

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UCI World Tour: The Secret Points System Explained

Winning a race is joyous and often a moment of great personal and team satisfaction. But the lesser placings matter, and not just for pride but for points.

Lately the UCI points system has taken a lot of blame for problems in the sport. Out of work riders lament the dash for points by insecure teams, unsure of their place in pro cycling’s top tier, some say the points system is an incentive for doping, all whilst some outside of road cycling rate the points so highly that they want them too.

But what if all this was wrong?

Let’s take a look at how the points of a team are calculated in order to qualify for the World Tour licence. This might sound like a dry and technical subject but it’s fundamental to the sport today. And totally misunderstood.

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EPO, the Wonder Drug

Epogen

Last month I read Tyler Hamilton’s “The Secret Race” and chased it with the USADA Reasoned Decision. There are many references to EPO, the blood boosting hormone that riders inject. So many that it takes on a variety of nicknames, that the method of injection is explained – both subcutaneous or intravenous – and consideration is given to the storage, whether the domestic refrigerator or a thermos flask for portable access. Even the means of hiding it are explained, from making your team mate store the stash to hiding the vials behind the vegetables in the kitchen refrigerator.

But if it was so widely used it’s rarely stated that injecting EPO is bad for your health. From blood clots to cancer the use of this drug comes with risks when administered under normal conditions. When abused by athletes, nobody knows what the risks are and that’s before we get to the mafia and its role distributing this drug.

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Thin Skins

Skins was under the illusion that professional cycling had been fundamentally reformed to contain doping and minimise the risk of scandals with which the brand of any sponsor could be associated

Those are the words from sports clothing company Skins from press release issued via its Swiss lawyers as it announces legal action against the UCI. You can read the full text online as they set out their case against the UCI in a bid to claim US$ 2 million in damages.

The more I look at this, the stranger it seems and unless we get documentary evidence to show Skins have been misled then it’s hard not to view this as a publicity exercise at the expense of the sport.

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The UCI Purge Lance Armstrong From History

Armstrong Wiggins 2009

News today that the UCI has decided not to re-allocated the results of the Tour de France from 1999-2005 is everywhere. Lance Armstrong vanishes from the results and the result from these years will be left blank.

But let’s look beyond this as there are more issues to consider. From with the decision on his Olympic medal, Bradley Wiggins climbs on the podium of the 2009 Tour de France… and I think it’s possible that the UCI could be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by Ivan Basso or Andreas Klöden so that they can claim their rightful Tour de France win. In theory that is.

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Greg LeMond’s Letter to The UCI

Greg LeMond

Greg LeMond has written an open letter to the UCI calling on President McQuaid to quit. The tone is blunt, explosive and accusative. “Resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport” he says in the letter. You’ll find the full text below.

I support the idea but this might only make the UCI President dig in even deeper, something I’ll also explain below too. Reform and change from the UCI is very difficult to achieve for several reasons.

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Judgement Day

Today sees the UCI hold a press conference to present its verdict on USADA’s reasoned decision. It’s a monumental day as we could see the results of the Tour de France from 1999-2005 overturned, the final pen stroke that strips Armstrong of his wins and maybe his status and dignity too. It’s true, the Tour de France never quite ends on the Champs Elysées, instead the result will be announced in the conference room of a Swiss hotel.

Until the conference begins all we know is that the press conference happens at lunchtime in Geneva, Switzerland and we will have UCI President Pat McQuaid, Chief Doctor Mario Zorzoli and Francesca Rossi the anti-doping official who sadly only appears on set-piece occasions. Ahead of this I wanted to think about the issues for consideration and things to look for and I’ve written a few down.

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Christophe Bassons Given One Year Doping Ban

I can reassure readers that the 20 October is a normal day in France. The first day of April is reserved for poisson d’avril jokes. The news that Christophe Bassons has been given a one year ban for missing an anti-doping control is no laughing matter.

How did this happen? Should he banned? Here’s a look at the case, the rules and more.

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