Former UCI president Pat McQuaid has been at the Tour of Turkey this week, and he has spoken to the Turkish website www.mtbtr.com about the CIRC report, World Tour reforms, women’s cycling and more.
He was asked about the CIRC report, and McQuaid replied, “My take on is that it was a wonderful opportunity which was missed. I think it was missed because it was to some extent politically put together. It was very much something which was worked out in advance of the elections in 2013, between Brian Cookson and the incoming president of WADA, Sir Craig Reedie and Dick Pound as well and USADA.”
“They are all involved in pushing the UCI to make this truth and reconciliation or independent commission looking into allegations against the UCI. Hamilton and Landis have made allegations against the UCI in the previous years saying that Armstrong has told them that UCI has covered up doping test of Armstrong. UCI knew that wasn’t the case but nobody wanted to believe us.”
“So the report was politically pushed and too narrowly focused on just Armstrong and what happened with Armstrong and so forth. It didn’t really go into the work of the UCI over the two periods of presidency by myself and Verbruggen in any great detail.”
When asked as to whether he would consider running again for the UCI presidency role, McQuaid responded: “That’s two years away now I even haven’t thought of that. I think the new UCI president would have plenty on his plate because I think current situation is not good. I don’t think that current administration has delivered many of his promises in the election campaign. So I think the next president will have to rebuild the UCI but whether that’s me or not, I don’t know.”
You can read the full interview here.
