Date Prisa is “hurry up” in Spanish. Whilst the investigation into Contador’s case requires detailed examination, there are rules to ensure this does not drag on for too long. These state that the Spanish Federation has to keep the UCI updated on what is happening and above all, that the case “must be completed within … Read more
In the wake of the collapse of the Australian Pegasus project it seems plenty are willing to have their say. We’ve had a press release from Cycling Australia and even the UCI felt it worth adding its voice in a curiously worded press release. French fans never got a taste of Pegasus But despite all … Read more
The image above is a screenshot swiped from the Osun Defender, a Nigerian newspaper. It’s exposing corruption, in this case the award of a construction contract for a sports stadium to a family member. Or look to Sierra Leone, where a contract to supply the country’s army with rice just happened to go to the … Read more
Pegasus, the team named after a mythical horse, believed it secured a last minute reprise and sent new documentation to Switzerland. This turned out to be unsatisfactory and the UCI sent the team to the knacker’s yard. I could write plenty about this process being unsatisfactory, it should not be the case that a team … Read more
You could argue that Belgium is the world’s top cycling nation. You can state with more certainty that Omega Pharma- Lotto is Belgium’s top team, thanks to the presence of Philippe Gilbert and Jurgen Van Den Broeck, not to mention André Greipel. Yet despite all of this the team didn’t get invited to the Tour … Read more
If it’s fashionable to dismiss Pat McQuaid outright in some circles, I think the story is more nuanced. With his background in race organisation, especially the Tour of Langkawi, the UCI President brings experience to open up the sport around the world, something that might not have happened if, say, a Frenchman or Belgian was … Read more
Without boring you, the process to registering a team with the UCI first involves sending them a copy of proposed contracts with riders and then, months later, setting up bank guarantees and a financial evaluation of the team. Pegasus the winged horse was a creature of myth and fantasy In the light of the worries … Read more
Jonathan Vaughters has written a must-read article over at cyclingnews.com. He takes a look at the worries concerning Geox, where their exclusion from the new UCI World Tour has led to boardroom discussions on whether to continue with sponsorship. It’s a similar point to the one made by Gerard Vroomen just a few days ago, … Read more
In recent days it’s been reported that the major race organisers and the UCI are close to a formal agreement over the team selection process for their races. It means the top-18 teams will get automatic invitations to ride the big races, indeed under the UCI rules they will be obliged to participate. I wrote … Read more
The UCI is apparently holding a training course for directeur sportifs. I can’t help feel that trying to teach men in their 40s how to do their job is going to be a very difficult task. Can you imagine Johan Bruyneel or Patrick Lefevere to learn new tricks? But this isn’t a small scheme, it’s … Read more