After the UCI

[MarkvW]

(A). How could the UCI be replaced? How would the downfall be engineered?

(B). What would a UCI replacement organization look like? Would it be any better than the UCI? How would it balance the competing powers in the sport?

(C). Is reform of the UCI possible?

 

[lukinox]

I think the main problem with the UCI is that they've gone power mad recently and they don't seem to collaborate with the pro teams at the moment. On the other end without the UCI would be total caos, there has to be a world organization to regulate the sport, so a reform of the UCI is probably the only solution. Don't ask me how the reform should take place cause I've no idea, one thing is for sure Mcquaid has to go.

 

[D-Queued]

I think the main problem with the UCI is that they've gone power mad ... one thing is for sure Mcquaid has to go.

Agreed. And, not just for reasons related to doping. But, for being really stupid as well:

Commentary: It’s time to take on the UCI [url=http://t.co/SJpWsoX]http://t.co/SJpWsoX via @velonews[/url]

Dave.

 

[Race Radio]

I don't think the UCI needs to be dismantled, but the cancer that is Verburggen and McQuaid needs to be removed. They are toxic

 

[Willy_Voet]

Separation of powers -

1. Refereeing/certification of races - UCI
2. Dope cops - WADA
3. Race promotion, TV rights, etc. - new organization

Equipment - anything goes (no motors)

 

[benzwire]

I don't think the UCI needs to be dismantled, but the cancer that is Verburggen and McQuaid needs to be removed. They are toxic

Navy Seals Team 6 have some free time now. Lets send them in to clean things up.

 

[MarkvW]

I don't think the UCI needs to be dismantled, but the cancer that is Verburggen and McQuaid needs to be removed. They are toxic

But if the UCI is "feudal," as I've heard it reasonably described, how do you depose the liege lord?

 

[MarkvW]

Separation of powers -

1. Refereeing/certification of races - UCI
2. Dope cops - WADA
3. Race promotion, TV rights, etc. - new organization

Equipment - anything goes (no motors)

What about the money? How should revenue be determined, collected, and spent?

 

[MarkvW]

Separation of powers -

1. Refereeing/certification of races - UCI
2. Dope cops - WADA
3. Race promotion, TV rights, etc. - new organization

Equipment - anything goes (no motors)

You'd go Obree for time trials?

 

[DirtyWorks]

I don't think the UCI needs to be dismantled, but the cancer that is Verburggen and McQuaid needs to be removed. They are toxic

This is more accurate. The UCI has been awful for a long time. Verbruggen was as awful as McQuaid when he was the head of the UCI.

Remove their authority to manage doping and many things change all at once for the better. RR, there used to be a guy running ASO(?) or maybe the TdF itself(??) that did not tolerate the doping whose career was short-lived because he tried to hold a hard line. What was his name???

 

[DirtyWorks]

What about the money? How should revenue be determined, collected, and spent?

In this way, SOME of the plumbing at the UCI is sound. Not perfect, but better than nothing.

Some of this depends on the kind of organization you or I want. I prefer a decentralized one, others will prefer a more centralized authority. There's no right answer.

Lastly, there are independent federations all over the world. Most of them operate in relative anonymity and isolation but drive most of the participation in the competitive sport. In the U.S. the two places with the most participation per capita are mostly free from any UCI association. (Oregon and Colorado road racing) If you want more info, PM me. It's pretty boring stuff for most.

 

[MarkvW]

This is more accurate. The UCI has been awful for a long time. Verbruggen was as awful as McQuaid when he was the head of the UCI.

Remove their authority to manage doping and many things change all at once for the better. RR, there used to be a guy running ASO(?) or maybe the TdF itself(??) that did not tolerate the doping whose career was short-lived because he tried to hold a hard line. What was his name???

Can McQuaid be separated from doping controls without dismantling the UCI?

 

[pmcg76]

This is more accurate. The UCI has been awful for a long time. Verbruggen was as awful as McQuaid when he was the head of the UCI.

Remove their authority to manage doping and many things change all at once for the better. RR, there used to be a guy running ASO(?) or maybe the TdF itself(??) that did not tolerate the doping whose career was short-lived because he tried to hold a hard line. What was his name???

I think it was Patrick Clerc if I am not mistaken, could be wrong though.

 

[OneRaceWonder]

(A). How could the UCI be replaced? How would the downfall be engineered?

(B). What would a UCI replacement organization look like? Would it be any better than the UCI? How would it balance the competing powers in the sport?

(C). Is reform of the UCI possible?

C, maybe. Remember that organizations are extremly hard to eradicate. When you think they are on the verge of extinction, they adapt and find new roles. The UCI won't vanish, and the only way it will disapear is by the IOC judging them out....which won't happen.

 

[Willy_Voet]

What about the money? How should revenue be determined, collected, and spent?

By the sports promoting organization. This is an obvious shift in power, but the UCI has done nothing productive for the sport on 20 years. A defined budget of 10, 20%, whatever would be paid to WADA every year to cover testing.

 

[Willy_Voet]

You'd go Obree for time trials?

Sure. He made his bikes, right? The UCI "cost reduction" and "mondialisation" rules have done nothing. How many Ugandans are winning time trials on the new generation of affordable $15,000 TT bikes?

 

[Adamastor]

This is more accurate. The UCI has been awful for a long time. Verbruggen was as awful as McQuaid when he was the head of the UCI.

Remove their authority to manage doping and many things change all at once for the better. RR, there used to be a guy running ASO(?) or maybe the TdF itself(??) that did not tolerate the doping whose career was short-lived because he tried to hold a hard line. What was his name???

Patrice Clerc, former president of ASO, is indeed the name you're looking for. The fact LA returned to cycling meant his end with TDF organisation. I think he is with Paris St Germain football club now.

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2008/10/1/626044/aso-news-patrice-clerc-out

 

[MarkvW]

Recumbents?

Sure. He made his bikes, right? The UCI "cost reduction" and "mondialisation" rules have done nothing. How many Ugandans are winning time trials on the new generation of affordable $15,000 TT bikes?

I'm totally with you. But what about recumbents? They would change the entire texture of some races.

 

[Willy_Voet]

I'm totally with you. But what about recumbents? They would change the entire texture of some races.

Hadn't thought about that. But, sure, why not?

The biomechanics of recumbents and regular bikes are quite different. Someone shifting to a recumbent for a TT might not help. A recumbent rider on a regular road bike would in all likelyhood be dropped on the steepest pitches of a hill, no matter what the engine.

It would be an interesting and controversial experiment.

 

[mtb Dad]

Changes:
*open and transparent election system. Published list of voting delegates, in advance, and rules for lobbying, like IOC bidding rules (not some friendly private list for those who get bottles of Irish whiskey)
*reform the voting delegates to have representation of the races and the teams, as well as the national federations. Give the big races and teams a reason to talk to the national federations and A) give them their expert advice and B) avoid them being isolated in their towers away from the rest of the sport. If we had had this, maybe the pro road scene wouldn't be so out of touch with how the rest of us feel about doping.
*separation from those who give out the UCI goodies, and those elected, like assignments to commissions and commissaire assignments that might be used to influence votes. Tho' might not be as big an issue with the first two points implemented.
*complete removal of testing and sanctioning for doping from the UCI. Four year bans for positives.
*requirement for major rule changes to go to the annual congress, so national delegates are in the discussion, can be held accountable by those riders (and other members) for those decisions. Not some bossy little appointed committee with their own private dreams of what the sport should be.

 

[MarkvW]

the Congress

What about a campaign directed at UCI Congress members?

 

[Cobblestones]

A recumbent rider on a regular road bike would in all likelyhood be dropped on the steepest pitches of a hill, no matter what the engine.

My feeling is that a recumbent would be dropped on the descent and on winding roads because the bike handling is much harder.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Can McQuaid be separated from doping controls without dismantling the UCI?

That's like asking, "Can you take the blue out of the sky" It's not just the doping authority that must be removed from the UCI, it's the side money deals Pat, Hein, and probably others have going. The contradictions coming out of the top of the UCI are so enormous and obvious you have to pretend REALLY hard to think the UCI operates with transparency and consistency.

Let's be fair to the lower echelons of the UCI. At the administrative end, there are few surprises, their work is pretty consistent.

I think it's fair to say as long as you don't compete directly with the UCI's premiere product (ASO events), there are fewer problems.

 

[mtb Dad]

What about a campaign directed at UCI Congress members?

Good luck finding out who they are.

 

[Astana1]

How to get rid of the UCI? It would be tough to do. But this sort of thing has been done before in other sports.

Look at the model CART followed. The first major schism in open wheel racing in the US when the top Indy Car teams gave USAC the middle finger and formed Championship Automobile Racing Teams. They staged their own races had their own rulebook and chief stewards promoted several successful feeder series in Indy Lights, Toyota Atlantics and Skip Barber Dodge.

At it's high water mark it was the largest and most successful motor sport in the US.

Unfortunately CART became a headless machine with CEO that had little power to act. Ultimately it was vulnerable to yet another schism by the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That schism destroyed the sport and turned it into a shadow of its former self. And is viewed by many as the root cause for the conversion of NASCAR from a regional series to the monster it is today.

Dan Gurney's White Paper was viewed as CART's "Declaration of Independence" http://champcars.blogspot.com/2006/01/dan-gurneys-white-paper.html

"Over the past 3 or 4 years I've had conversations with almost all of the car owners and team directors. I've had talks with drivers, with sanctioning body directors, with track owners and promoters and big sponsors and fans and other interested parties. Generally there is agreement that something is wrong with our sport -—it is not reaching its full potential by any means, and there is great need for a change!"

"At the moment we the car owners are the ones who have put forth by far the most effort, by far the most financial stake with little or no chance for return and yet, because we have been so busy fighting with each other, we have let the track owners or promoters and the sanctioning body lead us around by the nose while they reap the benefits. USAC for instance negotiates with TV as though it had the TV rights which in fact, if it came to a showdown, would turn out to be ours. (The car owners and teams)."

Sounds eerily familiar.