What's my name fool.

[Master50]

Greg has the heart but lacks the experience. Even he says he is not the guy to be president and suggest a guy like Richard Pound who is one person who has the experience for an international organization.
Without the best administrative skills I think Greg could make a real mess of it and frankly as much as Greg may carry a moral compass I think he would do nothing good in the administrative aspect. I might support a Tricky dicky for president but not Greg.

 

[martinvickers]

Greg has the heart but lacks the experience. Even he says he is not the guy to be president and suggest a guy like Richard Pound who is one person who has the experience for an international organization.
Without the best administrative skills I think Greg could make a real mess of it and frankly as much as Greg may carry a moral compass I think he would do nothing good in the administrative aspect. I might support a Tricky dicky for president but not Greg.

Simple - give Greg Hein's job - not the life bit- at least then the honourary president would have some actual honour.

 

[hrotha]

Simple - give Greg Hein's job - not the life bit- at least then the honourary president would have some actual honour.

The honorary president is a completely superfluous figure, it only exists to give Hein extra money and power.

 

[martinvickers]

The honorary president is a completely superfluous figure, it only exists to give Hein extra money and power.

of course it -all the better to embarress hein by giving it to someone else - plus you can have a good figurehead as hon pres, while a more chief exec type as president

 

[BroDeal]

Not going to happen. McQuaid has not been lavishing favors on third world countries because he believes that is the way to expand cycling globally. It is to ensure a block of support that makes him unassailable in UCI elections.

The most practical solution may be for pro cycling to go back to having its own governing body.

 

[wirral]

Much as I would like to see change, the Belgian Cycling Mafia's grip currently exercised through Pat the Proxy is as strong as ever.

 

[hfer07]

I wish Greg the best in his bid for the UCI presidency
BUT..
As much as I desire to Happen-I believe Greg has a very slim chance to succeed, simply because he's an "idealistic"- not pragmatic -his radical views-even if they truly benefit the sport- are going to clash with the "powers" running the sport-and like in politics-there are private interests in the sport to be protected, & will not be overlooked simply by the next person in office.....

BTW- I truly believe Hinault could be the best UCI President- I really do!!

 

[thehog]

If Ronald McDonald were to run for Presidency he'd do a much better job than McQuaid.

LeMond and his chicken nuggets might be as some suggest "too idealistic" but anyone would be better than McQuaid.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Not going to happen. McQuaid has not been lavishing favors on third world countries because he believes that is the way to expand cycling globally. It is to ensure a block of support that makes him unassailable in UCI elections.

The most practical solution may be for pro cycling to go back to having its own governing body.

BroDeal's nailed this one. I'll skip over the boring nomination hurdle he's got to get over.

Remember, the way the UCI's system works Hein is dictator for life. He's pretty much free to do with the federation as he pleased up until this last UCI Management committee action delaying the lawsuit against Kimmage. Hien likes Pat and so Greg will lose the IOC way. Hein and Pat arrange pay-offs to UCI federation voters.

Let's say Greg gets in by enough federations actually developing a conscience. He's got Hein screwing him over at every turn, he's got Pat's Terrorist network inside the UCI (WCP, hello A. Rumpf!) to deal with too. Let's pretend he gets in anyway. I think he'll discover so many problems that it would take a decade to get some semblance of credibility back and Hein will be making his job impossible at every turn.

This is where lobbying your national federation to support Greg as President would be a good idea. It won't help, because federation members don't elect people who vote at the UCI. That too is by design. But, it wouldn't hurt either.

If this doesn't work and it probably won't, then it's time for these guys to start another federation. But, the way the money flows it probably wouldn't work as a federation that pays its elite riders well. Nevermind the UCI's monopoly on elite riders.

 

[bridgeman]

Lemond could function in a Churchill sort of way initially, to get things rolling. Just a thought.

 

[Hugh Januss]

This is not a good idea in my opinion.

If people thought the anti Lemond rhetoric was bad before ...look out.

That was my first thought, but really who cares if the nut bars all start saying LeMond is just power hungry? They haven't been right yet, why would anyone pay attention to 'em now?
My opinion, very good idea, wrestle UCI away from Heiny 'n Paddy and then make Pound prez. in a few years.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Lemond could function in a Churchill sort of way initially, to get things rolling. Just a thought.

Sounds like a possibility. Gotta keep the "change now" momentum. No time or resources to find a top level candidate now.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

+1. Yup, Greg's diplomatic abilities have long been, ahem, known to be less than his greatest strength? But, I think he is intelligent enough, and humble enough, to have continued to learn over the years. Now he has business experience, even if most of the Lemond branding has really been other businesses just giving him branding pay. He has still been exposed to all that - and as we know, it has not been a trouble-free path (spec. Trek).

Given his statement, it appears he is also of the opinion that his term as prez of the UCI would be a transition. Having watched Greg all these years, I tend to think he really believes what he is saying - it isn't just said for convenience. And he will have an organization that already exists under him, with people there who understand organization-type-stuff. And if they are too weak from having to exist under McQuaid, Lemond has access to a lot of big people in cycling and business who can give him good advice on finding organizational replacements. Lots of reason for optimism.


Hey! Chewbacca had to get in an "i-told-you-so", didn't he? Probably the only chance he's ever had to be right!
But, yeah, they could merge. Pretty much the same topic, or becoming the same topic.

Hey, a stopped clock is right twice per day...which has me by several percentage points.

 

[GazelleFormula]

Lemond could function in a Churchill sort of way initially, to get things rolling. Just a thought.

Indeed, he has no ambition to be president but he wants to help finding one:

http://nos.nl/video/447467-lemond-wil-geen-voorzitter-worden.html (interviews in English)

Love the David Walsh quote in that interview:

A four year old kid could have worked out that Lance Armstrong was doping in '99. Perfectly obvious. And that four year old kid would not have had access to 10% of the information that UCI had. So the only way that UCI - Hein Verbruggen and later Pat McQuaid - did not know about Armstrong, is because they did not want to know.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

Probably my favorite part of the article is the description under the title "Only US Tour de France winner says it is “now or never” for cycling"

Only US Tour de France winner has such a nice ring, don't ya' think?

 

[Pazuzu]

Only US Tour de France winner has such a nice ring, don't ya' think?

It does indeed.

Lemond taking the reins of the UCI would be f'n brillliant. Akin to Václav Havel becoming President of the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution.

 

[Grandillusion]

It does indeed.

Lemond taking the reins of the UCI would be f'n brillliant. Akin to Václav Havel becoming President of the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution.

That's a great comparison! Viva la revolution

 

[ElChingon]

Did Betsy turn down the nomination? Maybe the one person not to take no for an answer and make sure the job gets done

 

[Tinman]

Lemond could function in a Churchill sort of way initially, to get things rolling. Just a thought.

Greg will be the guy establishing the beach head in the battle, to lead the fight as "the Only US Tour de France" winner, as the figurehead for "clean success". This battle will be fought in the mass media with the general public and aimed to force national feds to take the position to drop support for Pat. Visibly supporting Pat will not be an option for the national Feds (in a similar way to the Oceania countries not being able to vote Turtur back in).

The strategy will be to further damage Pat (and Hein) in the initial battle with Greg. Greg's campaign will establish the principles of a new clean system (eg separate doping responsibility, etc). The total war (a "changed cycling") will be won later with a candidate that will come from within the existing system, a candidate that the National Feds are comfortable with, that will have to uphold the new principles that by then are established and supported by the media/public.

 

[hiero2]

Not going to happen. McQuaid has not been lavishing favors on third world countries because he believes that is the way to expand cycling globally. It is to ensure a block of support that makes him unassailable in UCI elections.

The most practical solution may be for pro cycling to go back to having its own governing body.

You might be right that it ain't gonna happen. It would be a devil's race to put odds on this one. BUT - this is what the guys at CCN thought should be their best first shot. I WOULD be willing to bet that they have a plan B, C, D, and E.

This is just the 1st round. Those guys in that conference room aren't going away - we've seen that! But this keeps the pressure on.

If it doesn't work - they can go to ASO and say "told-ya-so, now what ya gonna do?" And then say "how about that new league now!"

If they get ASO to back it, the IOC can go suck eggs. The IOC will follow the money in the long run, so I think their talks with the IOC folks will be -- short. Not rude, just not - complete? But if the ASO said bye-bye UCI? Since we're using that worn out Phil-ism "cat amongst the pigeons" - well that would be a Siberian tiger munching on a whole flock of pigeons.

Back to the guys at CCN - I think we need to remember that this isn't Greg's initiative. Greg's candidacy came out of that roomful of big-name cycling and anti-doping people - it was their minds that felt this was worth a shot, and it would be an improvement.

So, back to "is it likely?" Maybe not, but that roomful of people thought it was worth the effort.

 

[BroDeal]

You might be right that it ain't gonna happen. It would be a devil's race to put odds on this one. BUT - this is what the guys at CCN thought should be their best first shot. I WOULD be willing to bet that they have a plan B, C, D, and E.

This is just the 1st round. Those guys in that conference room aren't going away - we've seen that! But this keeps the pressure on.

If it doesn't work - they can go to ASO and say "told-ya-so, now what ya gonna do?" And then say "how about that new league now!"

If they get ASO to back it, the IOC can go suck eggs. The IOC will follow the money in the long run, so I think their talks with the IOC folks will be -- short. Not rude, just not - complete? But if the ASO said bye-bye UCI? Since we're using that worn out Phil-ism "cat amongst the pigeons" - well that would be a Siberian tiger munching on a whole flock of pigeons.

Back to the guys at CCN - I think we need to remember that this isn't Greg's initiative. Greg's candidacy came out of that roomful of big-name cycling and anti-doping people - it was their minds that felt this was worth a shot, and it would be an improvement.

So, back to "is it likely?" Maybe not, but that roomful of people thought it was worth the effort.

LeMond is not a candidate. He needs backing of the U.S. federation to be a candidate. He is not part of that clique. What chance do you think there is for USA Cycling, which is privately owned by Armstrong's patron and run by Armstrong's friends and allies, to back a LeMond candidacy?

The best bet may be to look to a country like Australia. Ashenden might want to give it a go.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

McQuaid & UCI commission asking for input sounds nice, but it troubles me. To me, it seems like both McQuaid and the UCI Commission lack vision, which could be why they are asking for input. I am not convinced Pat or the commission have the necessary vision to get cycling out of its current problems. Am I wrong? All cycling needs is someone with vision and the ability to bring people together for progress. Input is nice, but there has to be vision to lead. I think LeMond just might be that guy.

 

[Velodude]

McQuaid & UCI commission asking for input sounds nice, but it troubles me. To me, it seems like both McQuaid and the UCI Commission lack vision, which could be why they are asking for input. I am not convinced Pat or the commission have the necessary vision to get cycling out of its current problems. Am I wrong? All cycling needs is someone with vision and the ability to bring people together for progress. Input is nice, but there has to be vision to lead. I think LeMond just might be that guy.

You cannot bracket the UCI Independent Commission with McQuaid concerning vision.

UCI Independent Commission is limited to make recommendations concerning the listed items on the Terms of Reference. The last four words of the TOR, without qualification, at paragraph C are "and to make recommendations".

The Commission is not the panacea to deal with cycling's apparent lack of vision but only to address USADA's Reasoned Decision and the alleged corrupt role played by the UCI in Armstrong's rise to cycling fame and fortune.

 

[DirtyWorks]

LeMond is not a candidate. He needs backing of the U.S. federation to be a candidate. He is not part of that clique. What chance do you think there is for USA Cycling, which is privately owned by Armstrong's patron and run by Armstrong's friends and allies, to back a LeMond candidacy?

The best bet may be to look to a country like Australia. Ashenden might want to give it a go.

An important point here is the tradition is the candidate's home federation does the nominating. The nomination can come from other federations.

We all know tradition is very important in politics, so that makes Greg's chances at a nomination slim, but not impossible.

I think Australia has the same problem as the USA. The TDU organizer is probably one of many inside the Australia federation.

Patrice Clerc might stand a better chance, but I have no clue what the politics are like inside French cycling.

 

[hiero2]

LeMond is not a candidate. He needs backing of the U.S. federation to be a candidate. He is not part of that clique. What chance do you think there is for USA Cycling, which is privately owned by Armstrong's patron and run by Armstrong's friends and allies, to back a LeMond candidacy?

The best bet may be to look to a country like Australia. Ashenden might want to give it a go.

Bro, I think you may be getting hung up in the weeds over the word "candidate". In the terms you put, you are right, Lemond is not a "candidate". However - CCN DID announce, as part of their press release, that Lemond would be running for UCI prez! Its like, if a guy from Louisiana says "I'm running for Prez as a Democrat!", well - he has to go get the Dem nomination FIRST, right? But he's STILL RUNNING, until the Dems select somebody!

So maybe he gets shot down by Weiner or whatever or whoever is the power-broker in the USACycling slot now. So what? It doesn't change a single point I made.

Namely:
1. The CCN think this is their best FIRST SHOT, with what they believe are the highest odds of winning - either short-term, or setting up the punch for the knockout.
2. If it fails they will have a fall-back plan, or more likely at least 4 other fall-back plans, depending on what response they get.
3. Right now, in the current political environment in cycling, is when a Lemond candidacy may make the most sense to the cycling power clique in the US, as a way to show that they are supporting efforts to change and grow, without rocking their own boats any more than they have to. It gives them a graceful way out of the growing McQuaid/Verbruggen controversy.
4. As for Ashenden - you might be right - but the CCN summit did not see it that way. Ashenden was in that group, and they picked Lemond, as a group.

Will it happen or not? Dude, I don't have a crystal ball any more than you do. So, we will see, eh?