- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The long-awaited cycling reform report cites Lance Armstrong’s Tour Down Under comeback as an example of the sport failing to apply its own rules.
The Cycling Independent Reform Commission findings also understands the disgraced cycling star was to be paid $US1 million for racing at the 2009 Tour, with the money to go to his Livestrong charity.
Armstrong’s three appearances at the Tour from 2009-11 represent the single biggest boost to the race since it started in 1999.
But there has always been controversy around whether he should have been cleared to compete in ’09.
“Another example of UCI failing to apply its own rules was the decision to allow Lance Armstrong to compete in the Tour Down Under in 2009, despite the fact that he had not been in the UCI (anti-doping) testing pool for the prescribed period of time,” the wide-ranging report says.
Under anti-doping rules, Armstrong was not supposed to be eligible for a return to competition until February 1 – several days after the Tour.
The report says Pat McQuaid, then president of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, told the Armstrong camp as late as Ocober 2, 2008, he could not compete at the January Tour.
“On the morning of 6 October, Pat McQuaid advised his senior team that he had decided that Lance Armstrong could ride the Tour Down Under,” the report says.
“Several interviewees spoke about an abrupt ‘change of mind’ by the UCI president that took many people at UCI by surprise and underlined the fact that the decision was unilaterally taken by the UCI president.
“No explanation as then given internally as to why Lance Armstrong was suddenly given an exemption.”
Also on October 6, the report says Armstrong confirmed to McQuaid he would ride in the 2009 Tour of Ireland.
“Sources and documentation available to UCI show that this decision was linked to the decision by Pat McQuaid to let him race in Australia,” the report says.
McQuaid’s brother Darach was the project manager at the time for the Tour of Ireland.
The report says there was “a temporal link” between Armstrong being cleared to race at the Tour Down Under and his decision to race at the Tour of Ireland.
The CIRC report also says McQuaid was under “significant political pressure … mainly from Australia” to let Armstrong start his much-publicised racing comeback at the Adelaide race.
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.