Why is the UCI Married to Armstrong?

[DirtyWorks]

Title says it all.

Both Armstrong and the UCI keep escalating the rhetoric. Pat couldn't manage the latest doping revelation so Hein had to check in to manage the situation only to look as foolish as Pat and Armstrong.

A more pragmatic politician would have quit defending the rider like they did with so many others. Why so many resources wasted on Wonderboy?

 

[Big Doopie]

Title says it all.

Both Armstrong and the UCI keep escalating the rhetoric. Pat couldn't manage the latest doping revelation so Hein had to check in to manage the situation only to look as foolish as Pat and Armstrong.

A more pragmatic politician would have quit defending the rider like they did with so many others. Why so many resources wasted on Wonderboy?

simple. as soon as uci accepted the backdated TUE in 1999 they were in bed together. armstrong had as much incriminating info on them as they did on him. this connection was only further strengthened by later corruption.

it also a fact that armstrong has always made people who have power to destroy the myth somehow dependent on him financially. he is in business with verdruggen.

the uci and armstrong will go down together or not at all.

 

[rhubroma]

And because Armstrong was a huge market, which, as always, is at the basis of everything.

 

[skippythepinhead]

Title says it all.

Both Armstrong and the UCI keep escalating the rhetoric. Pat couldn't manage the latest doping revelation so Hein had to check in to manage the situation only to look as foolish as Pat and Armstrong.

A more pragmatic politician would have quit defending the rider like they did with so many others. Why so many resources wasted on Wonderboy?

Wow, somebody could write a book about that. Pity that It's Not About the Bike has already been taken.

 

[Race Radio]

The marriage has crumbled. They are in the middle of an ugly divorce

 

[DirtyWorks]

simple. as soon as uci accepted the backdated TUE in 1999 they were in bed together. armstrong had as much incriminating info on them as they did on him. this connection was only further strengthened by later corruption.

it also a fact that armstrong has always made people who have power to destroy the myth somehow dependent on him financially. he is in business with verdruggen.

the uci and armstrong will go down together or not at all.

I would think they would weasel their way out of their corruption by tossing Armstrong to the wolves. Selectively release incriminating information and the UCI lives to fight another day. That's what I would have done.

As for the business relations, I agree with you. It would be an interesting story to explore for a mass media outlet looking for another bombshell to drop.

The amount of rhetoric coming out of the UCI at this point strongly suggests there are so many more corruption stories at the UCI and USAC that have not yet made it into mass media. BTW, we haven't heard a thing from USAC. I wonder why....

RaceRadio, given Hein's handling of the situation the divorce isn't public.

 

[thehog]

Title says it all.

Both Armstrong and the UCI keep escalating the rhetoric. Pat couldn't manage the latest doping revelation so Hein had to check in to manage the situation only to look as foolish as Pat and Armstrong.

A more pragmatic politician would have quit defending the rider like they did with so many others. Why so many resources wasted on Wonderboy?

The problem being is once the labs are comprised the entire process is compromised. Once you establish that there is nepotism and that the UCI pressured labs and dropped positives then every athlete who ever tests positive again has grounds to appeal based on former results/precedence.

The part I can't understand is why the UCI refuses to investigate. If you were the president of an organisation which required 100% confidentially in the testing procedure and results then you'd want to know the details and investigate. But they have no interest. Very strange.

They've really messed up. No one will trust the system anymore. No wonder every athlete denies denies denies. No wonder they feel so aggrieved when "selected" to be positive. No wonder the cyclists dare not criticise the UCI and its practises.

 

[Hugh Januss]

The marriage has crumbled. They are in the middle of an ugly divorce

I wonder who gets the mansion in Austin?

 

[MacRoadie]

simple. as soon as uci accepted the backdated TUE in 1999 they were in bed together. armstrong had as much incriminating info on them as they did on him. this connection was only further strengthened by later corruption.

Exactly.

If Armstrong were right about only one thing, it was that the UCI and cycling desperately needed an image-changing story in 1999 if they could ever stand a chance of recovering from Festina. There was HUGE money at stake.

To have the wearer of the Maillot Jaune implicated in a doping controversy the very next year was simply unacceptable. The UCI and cycling HAD to get that cortizone positive dealt with at any cost, as the cost of the alternative would likely mean the end of professional cycling as it existed at the time.

Armstrong's back story was made in Hollywood too: back from the edge of death, cancer survivor, etc. It was a no-brainer. Accept a positive and watch cycling collapse, or get the TUE and enjoy a feel-good story unequalled in the history of sport. All it took was a single piece of paper with the right date on it. They didn't even have to cover up the positive, just explain it.

By the time the 2001 Tour de Suisse came around, the Armstrong mythos had grown to such proportions (and the fortunes of certain key figures at the UCI had become so intertwined with it), that the snowball was too big to stop. And why would they? If one TdF victory after cancer was a PR gold mine, then what would three be?

 

[skippythepinhead]

Exactly.

If Armstrong were right about only one thing, it was that the UCI and cycling desperately needed an image-changing story in 1999 if they could ever stand a chance of recovering from Festina. There was HUGE money at stake.

To have the wearer of the Maillot Jaune implicated in a doping controversy the very next year was simply unaccpetable. The UCI and cycling HAD to get that cortizone positive dealt with at any cost, as the cost of the alternative would likely mean the end of professional cycling as it existed at the time.

Armstrong's back story was made in Hollywood too: back from the edge of death, cancer survivor, etc. It was a no-brainer. Accept a positive and watch cycling collapse, or get the TUE and enjoy a feel-good story unequalled in the history of sport. All it took was a single piece of paper with the right date on it. They didn't even have to cover up the positive, just explain it.

By the time the 2001 Tour de Suisse came around, the Armstrong mythos had grown to such proportions (and the fortunes of certain key figures atthe UCI had become so intertwined with it), that the snowball was too big to stop. And why would they? If one TdF victory after cancer was a PR gold mine, then what would three be?

+1; and it goes a long way to explaining why UCI/McQuaid worked so hard to make Contador's positive go away using basically the same MO.

 

[thehog]

Exactly.

If Armstrong were right about only one thing, it was that the UCI and cycling desperately needed an image-changing story in 1999 if they could ever stand a chance of recovering from Festina. There was HUGE money at stake.

To have the wearer of the Maillot Jaune implicated in a doping controversy the very next year was simply unaccpetable. The UCI and cycling HAD to get that cortizone positive dealt with at any cost, as the cost of the alternative would likely mean the end of professional cycling as it existed at the time.

Armstrong's back story was made in Hollywood too: back from the edge of death, cancer survivor, etc. It was a no-brainer. Accept a positive and watch cycling collapse, or get the TUE and enjoy a feel-good story unequalled in the history of sport. All it took was a single piece of paper with the right date on it. They didn't even have to cover up the positive, just explain it.

By the time the 2001 Tour de Suisse came around, the Armstrong mythos had grown to such proportions (and the fortunes of certain key figures atthe UCI had become so intertwined with it), that the snowball was too big to stop. And why would they? If one TdF victory after cancer was a PR gold mine, then what would three be?

Problem being just like Festina and Puerto this stuff always comes back to bite them. They pretend its not there and it always comes out. This time around the space between each "breaking news" event gets shorter and shorter.

The UCI should have warned Armstrong not to come back in 2009. They couldn't carry him any longer. They had to have known that someone would go nuclear at some point. In saying that if the Feds never got involved I don't think Floyd would have got very far.

 

[Fausto's Schnauzer]

Exactly.

If Armstrong were right about only one thing, it was that the UCI and cycling desperately needed an image-changing story in 1999 if they could ever stand a chance of recovering from Festina. There was HUGE money at stake.

To have the wearer of the Maillot Jaune implicated in a doping controversy the very next year was simply unaccpetable. The UCI and cycling HAD to get that cortizone positive dealt with at any cost, as the cost of the alternative would likely mean the end of professional cycling as it existed at the time.

Armstrong's back story was made in Hollywood too: back from the edge of death, cancer survivor, etc. It was a no-brainer. Accept a positive and watch cycling collapse, or get the TUE and enjoy a feel-good story unequalled in the history of sport. All it took was a single piece of paper with the right date on it. They didn't even have to cover up the positive, just explain it.

By the time the 2001 Tour de Suisse came around, the Armstrong mythos had grown to such proportions (and the fortunes of certain key figures atthe UCI had become so intertwined with it), that the snowball was too big to stop. And why would they? If one TdF victory after cancer was a PR gold mine, then what would three be?

A likely scenario. And I've always wondered about the "donation." Were there other "donations" not paid by check? White lunch bags can hold a lot of cash...new, unused team-issue Treks can generate a lot of cash...certain UCI high up mucky-mucks would certainly appreciate a lot of cash...the IRS would be very interested in knowing about the origin and eventual use of a lot of cash. As in most criminal enterprises, the truth comes out by following the money.

 

[D-Queued]

The problem being is once the labs are comprised the entire process is compromised. Once you establish that there is nepotism and that the UCI pressured labs and dropped positives then every athlete who ever tests positive again has grounds to appeal based on former results/precedence.

The part I can't understand is why the UCI refuses to investigate. If you were the president of an organisation which required 100% confidentially in the testing procedure and results then you'd want to know the details and investigate. But they have no interest. Very strange.

They've really messed up. No one will trust the system anymore. No wonder every athlete denies denies denies. No wonder they feel so aggrieved when "selected" to be positive. No wonder the cyclists dare not criticise the UCI and its practises.

Lance already beat them to that.

Remember, "Lance promises to help with investigation"

Dave.

 

[MacRoadie]

The disgusting irony is that if he hadn't doped in 1999, hadn't been caught, and hadn't needed the back-dated TUE, then this whole sick symbiosis may never have existed and LA would never have gotten the UCI in his back pocket.

Getting caught doping actually GAVE Armstrong his leverage over the UCI. It's the best thing that ever happened to him...

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I wonder who gets the mansion in Austin?

Frankie and Betsy.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Who would be in a position to investigate the UCI? That is, under who's jurisdition would charges of fraud and bribery and whatever else could be included, fall. Who ultimately polices an international sport governing body?
And who would Lance talk to about immunity for flipping on Hein and Pat?

 

[D-Queued]

The disgusting irony is that if he hadn't doped in 1999, hadn't been caught, and hadn't needed the back-dated TUE, then this whole sick symbiosis may never have existed and LA would never have gotten the UCI in his back pocket.

Getting caught doping actually GAVE Armstrong his leverage over the UCI. It's the best thing that ever happened to him...

I dunno.

I cannot buy that it all started then.

Lance had already demonstrated a conniving nature. The sport has a long history, and Hein wanted to avoid another Festina at all costs while securing the great white hope.

Looks more like magnetic attraction to me.

Likely facilitated by personalities and brokers (JB, Ferrrari) that were very familiar with how much Hein liked to line his own pockets.

WADA appeared offering the threat of breaking up the party, and Lance arrived just in time to be the annointed one.

The cortizone test may have been seen by Hein et al as their good fortune, and a way to keep Lance under control lest he get too big for himself.

Dave.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Frankie and Betsy.

That seems fair. The seduction grotto is awesome.

 

[MacRoadie]

I cannot buy that it all started then.

Well, I'm not selling that it started then. I'm suggesting that the 1999 TUE was a seminal moment in the relationship, a turning point.

 

[Grand Tourist]

There's the not insignificant matter of money & lots of it.

To the UCI in 1999 Armstrong represented a once in a life time, golden opportunity to break into the lucrative US market. The American consumer never really took Greg Lemond to their hearts (perhaps because he only came back from a self inflicted gunshot wound as opposed to cancer) in the same way they brought into the Armstrong myth. Enter Armstrong with his 'back from the dead' feel good story which would blow the stink of Festina away & attract $ millions into the sport.

It beggars belief that the regulator of a sport with such deep ingrained problems with doping would allow themselves to enter into a corrupt relationship with the biggest doper of the lot

 

[MacRoadie]

The American consumer never really took Greg Lemond to their hearts (perhaps because he only came back from a self inflicted gunshot wound as opposed to cancer)

Pretty sure Greg didn't pull the shotgun trigger, but the rest rings true...

 

[Zweistein]

Pretty sure Greg didn't pull the shotgun trigger, but the rest rings true...

Yeah, a guy he was hunting with shot him.

 

[Fausto's Schnauzer]

The American consumer never really took Greg Lemond to their hearts (perhaps because he only came back from a self inflicted gunshot wound as opposed to cancer)

"...self inflicted." Really?

 

[thehog]

Pretty sure Greg didn't pull the shotgun trigger, but the rest rings true...

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

 

[thehog]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Now I'm thinking you're using a play on words that Armstrong gave himself cancer?