The UCI Vs the Pro Teams

crumliniano

What do y'all make of the Civil War brewing in pro-cycling?
Pat McQuaid doesn't seem to give much store to Jens open letter or any other arguments on radios.
McQuaid's arguments are convincing in places but I find the the idea of the sports rules being driven by a threat from a TV station alarming, if a little unbelievable.
It sounds like the radio issue is one small symptom of a bigger power struggle between the UCI and the teams.
It would be interesting to hear Paul Kimmage's take on all of this given all he has said about McQuaid's integrity in the past.

Some links:
Jens Voigts open letter

Pat McQuaids open letter

Velonation interview with McQuaid Part 1

Velonation interview with McQuaid Part 2

Vaugters 10 steps to improve cycling (referred to by McQuaid in the interview)

and a commentary on it.

Mod's if there is already a thread on this feel free to move it, I couldn't find one.

TheBlaaMan

I'll not claim to be massively well informed, but I have followed this 'debates' in the past few months.

It is strange that the UCI appear to be unnecessaryily beligerent in terms of how they are introducing this ban. They maintain that the teams representative group were aware of these intentions back two years (?) ago when first mooted, and that the teams choose to do nothing. But surely as prime stakeholders in the sport, riders and teams deserved to be 'partners' in any such change. I think this is fairly symptomatic of the way tyhe sport is being run

The absence of full radio comms would undoubtedly make racing more 'dynamic' insofar as the guys on the road would have to be very aware of the goings on up and down the road. That cannot be bad for TV viewing - some stage races can be very pedestrian these days, and you would feel that this is because the DS is in full control, immediately relaying instructions to the riders and removing much of the need for them to think/act for themselves.

All that said, "technology" has taken over all sports - improved some (rugby), and disimproved others (many motorsports) from a spectator viewpoint. And thats the crux of the matter in some ways, the participants (understandably) want whats best for themselves (radios in this case) wheile the organisers (UCI) have a wider viewpoint to the commercial prsopects of the business, sport. Teams are not stupid, they realise that the commercial sale-ability of cycling is their life-blood too, but they will resist anything that weakens their potential to win (at most costs). The safety thing - while not a red-herring - is IMO just a drum for teams to beat.

I dont think you can pretend that advancements in technology can be ignored, so they are probably here to stay. There are compromises suggested - road captain has two way comms, others only one way; all comms are broadcast to TV audiences etc - and in reality, I'm sure that this is where the resolution to the issue will be found. Not before some more stand-offs, it seems........

C3PO

And the "Elephant in the Room" of the Contador appeal is conveniently ignored!

crumliniano

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

... It is strange that the UCI appear to be unnecessaryily beligerent in terms of how they are introducing this ban ... I think this is fairly symptomatic of the way tyhe sport is being run

Exactly. That's my question really - is the way the UCI are going about this good for the sport (i.e. the teams are self interested money grabbers that need to be controlled for the greater good) or would the mooted split from the UCI by the bigger teams be good for (a) pro-cycling and (b) cycling in general?
And would the mooted split necessarily be bad for anti-doping?

Just firing this out there really because I can't decide. Interested to hear boardsies take on it. I suspect the solution is somewhere in between the two hardline positions. Negotiated compromise rather than war tends to be the end resolution of most conflicts.

shaungil

Jens has 6 kids. So much for cycling being linked to impotence.

RobFowl

shaungil wrote: »

Jens has 6 kids. So much for cycling being linked to impotence.

Jens is away 200+ days a year and his wife has 6 kids

shaungil

waht are you trying to imply?

Lumen

shaungil wrote: »

waht are you trying to imply?

Well, aside from anything else she'll be far too busy to cheat on him. :pac:

shaungil

Is she though? 6 kids is an imprssive return from a man who's away so much.

What cheat on Jens? no-one could. a legend.

Am I the only one who thinks this is slightly off topic?

Beasty

shaungil wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks this is slightly off topic?

well you bleedin' well started it...:rolleyes:

100Suns

shaungil wrote: »

Jens has 6 kids. So much for cycling being linked to impotence.

Remember though that Jens once challenged Lance to see who had the most testicles and Jens won by 5. Fact.

[Sorry OP, couldn't resist.:D]

crumliniano

Bruyneel responds to McQuaid

" You know, we don’t care anymore about the threats of McQuaid. If he goes on the way he has been going, maybe we will stop with everything or maybe something else will happen.”


“If you persist in misrepresentation as Pat McQuaid does, then you are not a good president.”

petethedrummer

Johnann Bruyneel wants to turn cycling into a private enterprise like the NFL or MLB? That should end the doping problems.

LCRC_BAX

Jens Voight can do A.I. from 500 miles away.

Lumen

I don't really know what to make of this debate.

The issues seem to go much deeper than race radios, since there are simple and obvious compromises available for that.

Interesting that McQuaid drags doping into the discussion. Not sure whether that's an honourable thing or just desperate mud-slinging after being under so much pressure on the Contador case.

Presumably this sort of slagging went on all the time behind closed doors, but now the stuff gets Twittered instead.

petethedrummer

Well if this is gonna be a private operation outside of WADA and not eligible for the Olympics then doping is a fair point to bring up. And Bruyneel and Riis being the instigators? They're two indiviuals I wouldn't want at the head of the sport.

In fairness the UCI have (begrudgingly) brought in more doping controls and the bio-passport. What have baseball and the NFL ever done?

kennyb3

Am i the only one here hoping paulmcquaid comes on again to throw his unbiased orr in again?