More Threats to Riders who Ride at Paris-Nice

Doobz

This is a bit crackers.. I knew there were problems - never knew they were planning on doing this..

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has warned riders that competing in this month's Paris-Nice stage race could result in a six-month ban.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cycling/2008/03 ... e.html?rss

redddraggon

Are the UCI likely to ban nearly 200 riders? Now that would cripple the sport.

Doobz

Sounds Nucking Futs

ian222

:? :?

Bluster Bluster Bluster

The UCI will not go to war with the riders as well as the organisers..........

andy_wrx

ian222 wrote:

The UCI will not go to war with the riders as well as the organisers..........

Dunno, I think McQaeda is stupid enough to.


If he bans the riders from whatever events UCI has left, then they'll still be able to ride the Tour, Giro, etc

iainf72

andy_wrx wrote:

If he bans the riders from whatever events UCI has left, then they'll still be able to ride the Tour, Giro, etc

They won't. Only ASO races.

RCS races are still being run under UCI rules.

At the moment.

vermooten

Sabre rattling. Very bad sabre rattling.

dave_1

ASO are bullies

iainf72

http://www.velonews.com/article/72954/i ... -threatens

Interesting stuff. I like the fine, classy :?

afx237vi

iainf72 wrote:

Interesting stuff. I like the fine, classy :?

Oh my lord I LOVE the irony of Pat McQuaid racing in a non sanctioned event in South Africa and being banned from the Olympics :P

If the UCI does ban all the Paris-Nice riders - which I don't think it will - how will RCS and Unipublic react? That'll be a lot of star names gone from their races too. Will they be brave enough to join up with ASO, thus prompting a full blown split and a renegade calendar completely separate from the UCI?

Kléber

This is so stupid. The sport has been through a series of scandals, sponsors are fleeing fast and now the UCI is now making threats to riders and teams. We need leadership and responsibility from the UCI, not histrionic press releases and bans.

McQuaid needs to reassure, to calm tensions and to set a path out of the mess. But from all I can see, he's now threatening the teams and worse, doing this in public via childish press releases.

By provoking a war of words, there's no end, it'll only result in more stand-offs.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

McQuaid needs to reassure, to calm tensions and to set a path out of the mess. But from all I can see, he's now threatening the teams and worse, doing this in public via childish press releases.

I'm no fan of McQuaid, but how can you calm tensions when ASO appear to be so irrational and waging war behind the UCI's back?

McQuaid needs to skip the emotive language and use the rules. If there are rules against UCI registered teams taking part in these kind of events, quote the rule and invite ASO and the teams to discuss.

Judging from the article, the support for ASO isn't absolute. ASO are effectively making up the rules as they go along and how is that good?

Kléber

ASO and Astana are the arguing parties, the UCI needs to be above all of this. It needs to lead the way, not to roll in the gutter with cry-baby press releases.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

ASO and Astana are the arguing parties, the UCI needs to be above all of this. It needs to lead the way, not to roll in the gutter with cry-baby press releases.

What does Astana have to do with anything?

The UCI have said they're within their rights not to invite them to Paris-Nice. The issue is with ASO running Paris-Nice outside of the UCI's system not Astana's non-invite to the Tour.

iainf72

Hein wades in

http://cyclingheroes.info/id1309.html

ASO and UCI need to start talking - I'm sort of for a riders strike at this stage.

Kléber

This is going from farce to tragedy. A silly media spat which damages reputation now means many French riders, who have nothing to do with the politics, could face bans.

Verbruggen just can't stop meddling, can he? There also seem to be old scores to settle, the French and German federations, amongst others, tried to block the election of McQuaid, alleging the Irishman was being given contact details of all the national federations in the world, so he could schmooze for votes, months before other candidates, and that McQuaid was living in Switzerland rent-free thanks to the UCI, a breach of rules.

Meanwhile this from British Cycling (http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/si ... tement.asp):
The following resolution was put to the Congress: This Congress asks;
a) the UCI to undertake a complete review of the ProTour during 2008, and to bring proposals for a revised structure to the UCI Congress in September 2008, for approval for the 2009 season.
b) the FFC not to authorise the Paris-Nice, or any other major international race, outside the regulations of the UCI.
On being put to the vote, this resolution was carried, with 18 national federations voting in favour, 7 against.

British Cycling President Brian Cookson said "I think this is a clear and coherent resolution which will help all sides to bring this crisis to a speedy conclusion."

So 18 federations voting one way, seven against, on a dual resolution (ie, you can't vote for A or is a clear way out? Nice one...

LangerDan

Why have I got this senaking suspicion that Hein will engineer this split and, after he's done with his IOC day-job, magically appear as the organisational head of the new league?


iainf - I think you're right. A riders strike seems to be the only option at this stage though it needs to be a proper one. Sitting on a patch of cold damp tarmac while the French teams p!ss off up the road isn't the way to do this. The only issue is a strike will hurt ASO but not do much to the UCI.

iainf72

LangerDan wrote:

iainf - I think you're right. A riders strike seems to be the only option at this stage though it needs to be a proper one. Sitting on a patch of cold damp tarmac while the French teams p!ss off up the road isn't the way to do this. The only issue is a strike will hurt ASO but not do much to the UCI.

You're right - It needs to be a more general thing which could impact on the UCI. The goal should be to iron out everyones role and agree a way forward

The sport needs an overall governing body which does have desires on the race organisers revenue. The organisers need to start sticking to organising races and making decisions which are balanced and make sense, not scattergun and erratic. The national federations need to sort themselves out too. And the riders need to form a strong union and protect their own rights.

iainf72

Proofthe UCI do have some power.

Kléber

Power. But only thanks to threats and intimidation. Why should riding Paris-Nice be something that sees a rider getting banned?

The UCI is acting like a closed shop or monopoly, demanding that it is the only organisation that can put on a bike race and that anyone who doesn't do as it says will be blocked. Why is it so scared?

OffTheBackAdam

All sporting authorities behave the same, it boils down to power & money.
Look at boxing, how many different authorities, each with their own set of "World Champions"
F1, old Bernie jumps firmy on any threat to his authority there.
At this rate, the French might actualy get their first TdF winner since Fignon.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

Power. But only thanks to threats and intimidation. Why should riding Paris-Nice be something that sees a rider getting banned?

The UCI is acting like a closed shop or monopoly, demanding that it is the only organisation that can put on a bike race and that anyone who doesn't do as it says will be blocked. Why is it so scared?

No it's not. It's the body that regulates the sport and is asking the race be run under its rules. The riders take out a license with their federation and thefore with the UCI. ASO should not be filling this role - What possible reason do they have to not run P-N under the UCI?

There are no good guys in this story. I think I might need to hold LangerDan's jacket soon.

Kléber

Can someone explain how French Federation rules are different from UCI rules? My point is that these are near-identical rules. So it comes down to who's in control, not which rulebook is used.

I'd much rather the UCI says "look, we have a problem here but let's not make a mess of everything, talk and we can resolve things". Let ASO put on Paris-Nice and aim to fix the issues that divide. I just don't see the need for a stand-off. Like this, everyone loses.

secretsqirrel

Kléber wrote:

I'd much rather the UCI says "look, we have a problem here but let's not make a mess of everything, talk and we can resolve things". Let ASO put on Paris-Nice and aim to fix the issues that divide. I just don't see the need for a stand-off. Like this, everyone loses.

I think that they have gone past that stage, and it hasn't worked. Can't keep perpetuating the current situation. It's about time it came to a head. To be fair I think that the UCI is trying to protect the interests of the rider's, it just hasn't done it very well up to now.

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

Can someone explain how French Federation rules are different from UCI rules? My point is that these are near-identical rules. So it comes down to who's in control, not which rulebook is used.

That's not the issue - The French Federation is part of the UCI.

ASO's viewpoint is that the race can be run under the exclusive jurisdiction of French law. Pitallier also referred to this legislation, but McQuaid claims that this is not the case and that the FFC is not obliged to back the company in doing this.

"He [Pitallier] said he wants to stay within the regulations, but the situation with that French sports law which he uses and which was used by ASO to put the proposal in to run the race is not how they say. That law is designed for organisers who are not part of a federation or part of a sports organisation, so to speak.

"Number one, ASO does not fall into that category and, number two, our knowledge of the law is that he is not obligated to accept ASO's proposal. And number three, if he accepts ASO's proposal he can demand that the race is run under French Federation cycling rules. If the race is run under FFC rules, they are in line with UCI rules; therefore it has to be run as a national race on the French national calendar.

"He hasn't done any of those. So the French Federation are clearly in breach of the UCI. They are clearly not trying to assist the situation from the UCI point of view and there will be serious consequences for the French Federation if this continues

Kléber

Why is it protecting the riders interests? For a decade, the French riders have had blood passports, the UCI said they were too expensive. Why is threatening Cavendish and Wiggins that if they follow their planned programs, they risk being blocked at the Worlds and even Olympics? That's bullying in my book.

If David Millar does a time trial in Britain, under CTT rules, is he going to be ex-communicated because he's outside of UCI control? Will BC ban people who do LVRC races? Presumably the answer is no, so why get so worked up about Paris-Nice. It's clear that every team is going to ride the Tour de France anyway, so trying to disrupt Paris-Nice is petty.

iainf72

Look, they have their problems but the UCI are the governing body of the sport. Why do ASO want to run P-N under French Law? There is no reason to do it. Aside from causing conflict. Are the UCI trying to do anything wierd to P-N? No.

dave_1

Though I think Bruyneel should leave Astana and retire after his rush to sign Basso...I support the UCI in this...ASO are bullies and broke the rules themselves when they felled Armstrong with the use of their own newspaper- L'equpe -in cooperation with LNDD-WADA to do the so called "anonymous" testing of samples

iainf72

Dave_1 wrote:

Though I think Bruyneel should leave Astana and retire after his rush to sign Basso

That was a bit random Dave_1

What does JB have to do with anything?

dave_1

iainf72 wrote:

Dave_1 wrote:

Though I think Bruyneel should leave Astana and retire after his rush to sign Basso

That was a bit random Dave_1

What does JB have to do with anything?

Hi Iain, just think part of healing the sport is to gut it of the previous regime...Bruyneel is old school no? The Basso signing shows his true attitude to clean cycling , no? No potential tour winner in their right mind will want to sign for a team lead by JB I think

iainf72

Dave_1 wrote:

Hi Iain, just think part of healing the sport is to gut it of the previous regime...Bruyneel is old school no? The Basso signing shows his true attitude to clean cycling , no? No potential tour winner in their right mind will want to sign for a team lead by JB I think

Maybe, but what does that have to do with the Paris-Nice dispute?

Does Stapleton approaching Valv.Piti show his attitude towards clean cycling?