Interview with Alain Rumpf | Tour of Beijing

September 27, 2011

The inaugural Tour of Beijing will be taking place next week. It is the UCI's crown jewel of the globalization of cycling which has been UCI President Pat McQuaid's priority since becoming president in 2005. Alain Rumpf is the Director of the Global Cycling Promotion who is in charge of these efforts. My mate Cam Whiting conducted this interview with Mr. Rumpf to find out more about their efforts and the Tour of Beijing.

You are the Director of Global Cycling Promotion (GCP), a company owned by the UCI. What are the GCP’s key objectives?

Basically it’s to assist with the UCI’s strategic objective of globalizing professional road cycling. Professional road cycling is a very strong sport in a number of territories – Western Europe mainly – but there’s still a huge potential that is not exploited in other parts of the world. The UCI’s mission is to develop the sport worldwide and to strengthen the Olympic status of the sport. We know that globalization, or universality as the IOC calls it, is a key criterion to develop a sport in the Olympic program and it’s a priority for the UCI to make professional cycling as global as possible. By creating a dedicated company to create, or assist the creation of, new events in new territories the UCI is taking action to reach its strategic objective.

[I did actually have a few specific (and curly) questions about the GCP, but given Alain was short on time we got straight into race specifics.]

Firstly, has the threat of team boycott over race radio regulations now completely disappeared?

Yes, all teams have confirmed their participation in accordance with UCI regulations.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but an hour ago (18:30 AET, when the interview was conducted), David Millar tweeted “UCI/GCP = SNAFU: organize Tour of Beijing, give World Tour status obliging teams to go, tell riders last minute they need visas. Thank you.” China Visas can take weeks to process. Whose responsibility was it to ensure all riders were informed they needed visas?

Well, I saw that and you may have seen that I immediately sent a tweet to David to see how we could assist him. He has a specific situation with regards to visas, but that’s a unique case. In general, teams were well aware that visas were required for the Tour of Beijing. We’ve been in regular contact with (participating teams) over the last few months. We have set up procedures with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in Beijing to receive visas. Obviously with a race in China, the logistics are more complicated than a race in France or in Italy. You have to apply for a visa in an embassy etc, etc – you are a traveler, you know this very well – so we have created procedures with the City of Beijing (the LOC) to facilitate this and we are assisting teams on a daily basis. In fact, that’s why I am particularly busy at the moment; I am dealing with some specific cases in teams. I can fully understand it’s a surprise for a rider who’s used to mainly racing in Europe where the borders are virtually non-existent and it’s easy to go from one country to another. But, we’re working on it and assisting wherever we can. I hope to be in touch with David very soon to advise him on how best he can sort his problem out.

The Tour of Beijing has capacity for 18 so-called ProTeams and 1 Chinese National team. What is the LOC’s deadline to finally confirm the participating teams?

Well this is happening at the moment. You have seen that Team Lampre-ISD has confirmed its participation; we have announced Vacansoleil-DCM. In fact, all teams have sent a list of (participating rider) names to the UCI in accordance with regulations. We will announce them between now and the race. And on their side, teams will also announce their riders. [Teams will arrive three days before the start]

The Event Partner bar along the bottom of the website is empty. Are there any race sponsors? Who are they and when will they be announced?

The marketing rights belong to the City of Beijing so it’s their responsibility to arrange sponsorship. At the moment there are no sponsors showing on the English site. We are just waiting for some logos from the LOC. If you go to the Chinese-language site (tourofbeijing.co), you will see a list of sponsors at the bottom. There’s a car company, there’s a leisure clothing company and I think there’s also an energy drink company at the moment. [note: there are several automotive sponsors, including Mercedes-Benz and also a bicycle sponsor ‘UCC’ which has significant market share in China]

Has it been a challenge to engage local sponsors when compared to a similar event in Europe? Do local sponsors understand the significance of the Tour of Beijing and the potential benefits?

Well, I can’t comment on the specifics because it’s the responsibility of the LOC. Certainly, it’s more challenging to promote a race and attract sponsors (in China) because they don’t know about cycling, it’s the first edition, there are no major Chinese riders at the moment, etc. However, it’s good to see in these conditions they (the LOC) have still been able to find (many sponsors) until now.

Is it an objective, after the four-year agreement between the GCP and Tour of Beijing ends, to sell the event or will the GCP continue its ownership so long as the event is profitable?

Well, first of all we haven’t done the first edition yet so it’s probably a little early to speak about the future. At the moment, there is no plan to sell the event. I think we have a strong partnership with the City of Beijing and a set of rights and obligations that I think work well, so we don’t have plans to change that in the future I think.

You studied political science at the University of Lausanne. In a political sense, how does organizing a race in China compare to organizing a race, for example, in Australia or another western country?

(laughs) Well, that was a long time ago! No, I mean, it’s very interesting and certainly very different. During my last visit to Beijing in August, I had lunch with the president of the Chinese Cycling Association. He made a very interesting statement that we (GCP) are going to face three types of differences. The first one is cultural; this difference creates basic communicational misunderstanding etc, etc. The second is political; the political systems are totally different. You know, the way cities, regions and central governments are organized in Western society when compared to China. We are faced with this on a daily basis. Fortunately, in my team, we have Chinese people who understand both systems, the way the hierarchy is organized, the decision-making process. The third difference is what the President called “technical” difference; the (lack of technical) expertise. We are used to working with organizers who know the sport, are experienced in the sport, and there’s no such experience at the moment in China. That’s the reason we are bringing in ASO (Amaury Sports Organization, owner of the Tour de France) to fill the gap in technical knowledge. I’m very confident we will be able to transfer knowledge to China very quickly and they will become very good organizers themselves.

In order to compete in a race on the UCI World Calendar, riders of UCI ProTeams and UCI Continental Professional teams must have submitted accurate whereabouts information and have been subjected to at least three blood parameter tests collected in accordance with the UCI biological passport protocols. The three tests must have been collected over a minimum period of six weeks. Will the Chinese National team be subject to these exact conditions?

As you pointed out, this requirement is for UCI ProTeams and Professional Continental teams, not for other riders. Having said that, the UCI has a very comprehensive program so all the riders get tested on a regular basis. It is the same situation as the Tour of Poland and the Tour Down Under in fact so, yes; the riders in the Chinese National Team are tested on a regular basis. However, they are not part of the UCI biological passport program.

You mentioned Poland and Australia. Do you think the intent from the Chinese Cycling Association is to have the same level of testing on their athletes as we do in Australia? How do local protocols compare with other established cycling nations?

Well, that’s not exactly for me to comment, as this is the UCI’s responsibility. I’m just commenting as the race organizer. Having said that, all athletes competing at international level are submitted to UCI regulations. I think the UCI has a very comprehensive anti-doping program, so I’m not concerned about it.

Is there any concern from either the LOC or GCP that the Chinese National team is going to – as we say in Australia – get smashed by the ProTeams, therefore creating an embarrassing situation for Chinese officials? After all, we know that “saving face” is very important to Chinese people. Is there a concern about the difference in quality?

It’s true. At the moment on the international scene the China team is not very high in the international hierarchy, but this is mostly due to their lack of international experience! There’s a lot of activity at the national level. You may know the most important event for Chinese athletes is the China Games (note: National Games of the People’s Republic of China, held every four years). Different provinces all compete against one another, so there’s a lot of competition at the national level. Many (expat) professional riders are also racing in China, so the level is quite good, I think. To answer your question, if the China Cycling Association has decided to enter a team in the Tour of Beijing, it is because they are confident they will be able to keep up with the other teams. For that reason, we are confident for the first year the Chinese National Team will compete at a reasonably high level. We know it’s not going to be easy for them, which is why together we are organizing training camps and coaching. Gradually, Chinese athletes can compete well internationally and integrate to international teams. The Tour of Beijing is not just a race; we really want it to be a platform that will benefit everybody. Not only for sponsors and teams but also for Chinese cycling.

There are three riders from the Chinese National team currently training at the World Cycling Centre, in Aigle, Switzerland. How are they finding their stay in Switzerland?

They’re doing well. I see them on a daily basis because my office is at the WCC where they train. They are doing a lot of miles and they have experienced international coaches looking after them, so of course it’s going to be beneficial for them. And that’s just the start of this cooperation; the WCC will assist the Chinese Cycling Association to develop Chinese athletes, coaches, officials and commissaires over the next four years.

Europe, Canada, Australia and now Asia are home to WorldTour races. Where to next?

We are actively, you know, working to identify cities that could host new UCI WorldTour events. We are also monitoring existing races to see if they can be upgraded to WorldTour level. It is more the UCI’s responsibility to set up the UCI calendar. I think, in a recent interview, Pat McQuaid mentioned countries like Brazil, India and Russia. These are definitely countries where we would like to develop new projects.

Because the strategy is to globalize cycling, does that mean GCP will only be targeting races in emerging countries, and not developed countries like the UCI. For example, the USA does not currently have a World Tour event.

No, I don’t think it is only emerging countries. It could be any region in the world where there is potential for the whole sport; I think the US is a key territory. If a project can be developed in this country, I’m sure the UCI will look at it with a positive eye.

So, if there was an interesting opportunity in the USA, would the GCP itself look to own a race, or are you talking about assisting an existing race like the Tour of California to become a WorldTour event.

It could be both. We are not just stuck on one business model, I think different business models are possible as long as the UCI and GCP’s goals are achieved; that is, to support projects which benefit the whole cycling family and its stakeholders.

Did you have the possibility yourself to ride in China?

Unfortunately not, because I’ve been very busy every time I’ve been in China. I would love to do that one day.

Well I can recommend some good bunch rides to you.

Let’s talk about it when we meet in Beijing then!

Alain Rumpf, thanks for your time.

– Tour of Beijing Race Details –

Official website: www.tourofbeijing.net

Stage One – Wednesday 5th October ?Individual Time Trial – 11.3km – Bird’s Nest – Water Cube via Olympic Park circuit [No TT bikes allowed]

Stage Two – Thursday 6th October ?133.5km – Bird’s Nest to Men Tou Gou via North Gate of Summer Palace

Stage Three – Friday 7th October ?162km – Men Tou Gou to Yong Ning Town via Thirteen Ming Tombs Reservoir

Stage Four – Saturday 8th October ?189.5km – Yanquin Gui Chuan Square to Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre via Great Wall

Stage Five – Sunday 9th October ?118km – Tian An Men Square to Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium

NOTES:

Teams logistics will be made simpler by a ban on time trial bikes for the stage 1 test, like in the Tour of Qatar and Tour of Oman.

Stages 2, 4 and 5 are more or less circuit races for sprinters

Stage 3 from Men Tau Gau to Yong Ning contains three category 1 and one category 2 climbs.

tags: Alain Rumpf, global cycling promotion, Tour of Beijing

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xrider64

…without wishing to rain on McQuaids parade, a different take on the UCI and this can also be found here : http://velocastcc.squarespace.com/comment/2011/9/8/mcquaid-bullies-his-way-to-beijing.html - interesting, that’s all….
xrider64

…without wishing to rain on McQuaids parade, a different take on the UCI and this can also be found here : http://velocastcc.squarespace.com/comment/2011/9/8/mcquaid-bullies-his-way-to-beijing.html - interesting, that’s all….
Notso Swift

I think it is a good thing, after all if the Chinese race more themselves the quality of the Pinarello knock offs should improve
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Chadwick/604555001 Tim Chadwick

Interesting read on the emerging races :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Chadwick/604555001 Tim Chadwick

Interesting read on the emerging races :)
Abdu

Amazing colour of that lake in the shot.

Say what you like about the Chinese and their toxic waste dumping, but you can’t argue about how pretty it is…
Nic_3

I bet it looks great glowing in the dark too!
Nic_3

I bet it looks great glowing in the dark too!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636550395 Robert Merkel

Having spent time in Beijing in 2008 a month or two before the Olympics, I wouldn’t like to do anything more than base-building anywhere within 50 km of the center of town.

The only time I’ve ever experienced air pollution anything remotely approaching that in Beijing is near Mount Beauty during the 2003 Victorian bushfires. It was two weeks into the visit before I even realized that there were mountains within a few km of the city.

I know they’re working pretty hard to cut down the pollution (remember, the national leadership lives in Beijing too), but 20 million people, lots of windless days, lots of old diesel trucks and coal-fired power stations, and it’ll be a while before the air is clean enough that I’d breathe more of the air than I have to.

Shame, because if they’d do something about the pollution it’d be a great place to ride.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636550395 Robert Merkel

Having spent time in Beijing in 2008 a month or two before the Olympics, I wouldn’t like to do anything more than base-building anywhere within 50 km of the center of town.

The only time I’ve ever experienced air pollution anything remotely approaching that in Beijing is near Mount Beauty during the 2003 Victorian bushfires. It was two weeks into the visit before I even realized that there were mountains within a few km of the city.

I know they’re working pretty hard to cut down the pollution (remember, the national leadership lives in Beijing too), but 20 million people, lots of windless days, lots of old diesel trucks and coal-fired power stations, and it’ll be a while before the air is clean enough that I’d breathe more of the air than I have to.

Shame, because if they’d do something about the pollution it’d be a great place to ride.
run rider

There is much more to this race than meets the eye.
Sounds like the teams are being forced to take part in this ‘event’, with the UCI contacting the sponsors of the teams directly to make sure the teams are in Beijing. For what? A series of crits at the end of a very long season? Also how come the race radio thing seems to have been sorted all of a sudden and they can use them again next year?
The UCI need to get real & stop trying to do what F1 does and running around the world putting on races for the highest bidder. They just don’t get it, part of the reason people love cycling is for the history & the old races like Tour of Flanders & Paris Roubaix. These annual events are what make this sport, not chasing around the desert in Qatar watched by a few camels, or trying to see through the smog in China on some sick end of season ‘footy trip’!
Cam

Mark MacKinnon wrote an article about Chinese government meddling with pollution stats Canada’s Globe and Mail today. Disturbing reading: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/think-chinas-air-is-breathable-think-again/article2181489/
Cam

Mark MacKinnon wrote an article about Chinese government meddling with pollution stats Canada’s Globe and Mail today. Disturbing reading: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/think-chinas-air-is-breathable-think-again/article2181489/
Mick Leung

It’s not only man made pollution that is a problem there. A huge desert is relatively nearby and anyone that lives near a desert would know what a royal mess they can make when the wind kicks up a little!
Mick Leung

It’s not only man made pollution that is a problem there. A huge desert is relatively nearby and anyone that lives near a desert would know what a royal mess they can make when the wind kicks up a little!
Nic_3

quote run rider

“They just don’t get it, part of the reason people love cycling is for the history & the old races like Tour of Flanders”

I agree. Yet I hear they’ve gone and changed the Flanders course for 2012 too*

*disclaimer – I read this on stuart o’grady’s twitter and haven’t had time to actually look into the claim
Tim

I reckon it’s the lake up the Glandon/Croix de Fer but I stand to be corrected.
Tim

I reckon it’s the lake up the Glandon/Croix de Fer but I stand to be corrected.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636550395 Robert Merkel

run rider, while I agree that history is important, I can’t help but be a bit disquieted by the impliations of your post – that top-level professional cycling should be forever restricted to races in a few countries in western Europe.

Tradition is important, but there has to be room to respond to a changing world. There’s 20 million Beijingers out there, and they see SFA top-level sport. Cycling is easy to understand (at a basic level), it’s possible to have essentially as many spectators as you can squeeze along kilometres of road, and it doesn’t require permanent infrastructure. I don’t think it’s at all beyond the realms of possibility that the Tour will attract big crowds if it’s properly organized and promoted. Yes, the vast majority of those will be casually interested (that’s the same everywhere) but if the event continues for a couple of years, and is accompanied by regular telecasts of other events, there’s every chance that some Chinese people will develop a real interest in the sport. It worked in Australia, why not China?
Birds Eye View

This was probably the most politically correct interview ever.

Nothing at all interesting or slightly contentious. Ironic considering this interview was conducted with a representing Chinese interests.
BC

no muur and bosberg finale, not even in the race at all. Instead they will run three laps of paterberg and oude kwaremont (spelling probably bad there) if you watched this years, the paterberg is the steepest climb in the race and is pretty short, and i think you can just ride it up a smooth gutter, a farmer built it in one of his paddocks coz he was jealous his mate had a farm next to the koppenberg. It had lots of corporate marquees in the paddock. It’ll probably be lined with a temp grandstand next year. $$$$$ There’s a few articles such as one one on podiumcafe called ‘De-Kapel-tated’ or something like that.
BC

The only interest I have in the race is to see what riders will make the trip to Vic for the sun tour the next week. Kittel, Docker, KdK already named for SkilShimano, possibly J VDB and Hansen for lotto. I forget what other ProTeams are coming (Garmin is one i think) but obviously there’ll be lots of info next week.
Simonjagassar

ITT with no TT bikes allowed ? Am I reading that correctly ? If that’s the case, how progressive is that ?
Abdu

Nope, bound to be a Chinese copy.
run rider

Robert, I don’t for a second think that cycling should be restricted by it past.
What I was trying to say is that cycling has a ‘flow’, warm up races, Paris Nice, Classics, short tours Dauphine, Switzerland, Grand Tours, Worlds, Italian classics. There is not much time left for the ProTour riders to recover ‘Naturally’, so the end of season is a time of rest. Now the UCI should be encouraging this instead of putting on a race like this one with a top level protour field for the 1st edition. The Japan Cup is a good example of how to do this, nice hotels, field of teams is mixed ProTour, Pro Conti & some Japanese trade teams, a public that knows the sport & home to some of the sports major sponsors like Shimano. The race is the end of the season for most of the riders in the field. On the other hand a race like Tour of Beijing actually does nothing really longterm to help develop cycling in ‘new’ countries. The field has 1 team from China. So while there is no denying the population of China, what is the tie back or interest to the locals, I can only think of the “crowd” for the road cycling events in India last year at the Commonwealth Games. The 2nd most populated country in the world, due to the restrictions on public access led to the pit straight being the only part of the course with spectators ( team helpers) who were not the police & army along the course. Why will China differ, we saw what the crowd was like for the Olympic road races in 2006 where the public was restricted from the course, even international fans were stopped from entering the course.
Part of the reason the Tour DownUnder is such a success is because it started off with 2 teams like UNISA made up of Australian riders, a mix of Aussies on the Trade teams & some 2nd Division trade teams for the first 5 -7 years. Stuey won the first event, so home town winner.This coupled with the fact that the event matured and developed its own history. In other words they walked before they ran.
What the UCI are doing is in reality akin to putting on an AFL or NRL match in China. The public wont know who or what they are watching. But at least next year the race radio ban will be eased?
http://facebook.com/brad.priest1 Priestie

Same same. Cue obligatory Glandon/Croix de Fer tourist shot.
http://facebook.com/brad.priest1 Priestie

Same same. Cue obligatory Glandon/Croix de Fer tourist shot.
http://facebook.com/brad.priest1 Priestie

Same same. Cue obligatory Glandon/Croix de Fer tourist shot.
Notso Swift

That is the norm for these newer fly away style races, some smaller Euro races as well (though that is more in prologues)
http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

Yes, the logistics of bringing heaps of equipment to these far away races makes it impractical to bring TT equipment. The teams usually just fly over with 1 bike per rider and a couple spares. The race organiser provides team vehicles, communications, etc. Tour Down Under is the same.

I’m guessing prologue is there so that the spectacle of the bike race can be easily seen by everyone. Criteriums are not permitted in WorldTour stage races (the Cancer Council Criterium is not part of the TdU). Yet anyway… (they just changed this rule for UCI2.2 races for 2012)
JC

Agree. If someone can smell a profit they’ll put a race on the moon and tell us all why it’s the best thing “for the sport”. I for one am not interested in watching the peloton do 45 laps of a crit circuit style course on the outskirts of the dirtiest city in the world…all very non PC of me I know.
Cam

“I’m guessing prologue is there so that the spectacle of the bike race can be easily seen by everyone”

That’s if the fans are allowed to get near the course this year… maybe I should dress up as an Iranian munitions scientist – “I’m just popping over to North Korea, any chance I can take a shortcut through the prologue course?”
dog

Regardless of the toxic air, I really struggle to be interested in the ‘Anything of Beijing’ at any level.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636550395 Robert Merkel

You might not be interested, but the residents of Beijing might well be.

Which is kinda the point.

As for the circuit race on the last stage, it’s not on the edge of town, it’s right in the middle of town – if it’s a clear day (a big if, I know) the footage will look pretty special.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636550395 Robert Merkel

You might not be interested, but the residents of Beijing might well be.

Which is kinda the point.

As for the circuit race on the last stage, it’s not on the edge of town, it’s right in the middle of town – if it’s a clear day (a big if, I know) the footage will look pretty special.
Abdu

I heard it’s actually the Glaandon/Crix de Fur, close but actually a copy if you check it out closely.

Be careful, that lake might look just like the real thing then just when you least expect it – BAM! Critical failure…

PS. Do David Millar’s comments about visa’s have anything to do with how the Chinese view on drugs with regards ‘suitable visitors’? Remember David Millar had a really tough time with Cofidis (arrested, charged, not convicted, admitted to EPO use, etc.).
Abdu

Ouch. Feel free to start your own blog, tee up interviews, etc. mate. I’d be happy to read it.
jules

how can millar complain about having to get a visa? what did he think was going to happen – that he didn’t need one, as he was some kind of VIP?
Timo

The Inner Ring said it best:
“Created within the UCI in 2009, according to Swiss company filings it
was registered as a separate business a few weeks ago with a share
capital of 200,000 Swiss Francs. Along with Rumpf, other officials
include UCI President Pat McQuaid who is also the president of GCP and
ex-rider and UCI insider Rocco Cattaneo, plus Jean-Pierre Strebel, the
UCI’s finance director and former Tour of Romandie boss.

It’s part practical, part conflict of interest. On the practical side
if the UCI is going to promote races in places like Beijing then it
helps to have a separate company to run the business through. But that’s
also the problem, if the UCI is getting mixed up in promotion and
business it’s quite a step away from the traditional role of a governing
body. Given the UCI and its staff now have a direct financial interest
in the race in Beijing it sets up a fraught scenario where decisions on
business aren’t taken by third parties or kept at arm’s length. The UCI
will decide whether to award the Chinese race a World Tour spot… I think we can guess the result already.”

http://inrng.com/2011/04/the-ucis-new-private-business/

It’s a travesty that the UCI can be so blatantly corrupt without reprehension.
Timo

The Inner Ring said it best:
“Created within the UCI in 2009, according to Swiss company filings it
was registered as a separate business a few weeks ago with a share
capital of 200,000 Swiss Francs. Along with Rumpf, other officials
include UCI President Pat McQuaid who is also the president of GCP and
ex-rider and UCI insider Rocco Cattaneo, plus Jean-Pierre Strebel, the
UCI’s finance director and former Tour of Romandie boss.

It’s part practical, part conflict of interest. On the practical side
if the UCI is going to promote races in places like Beijing then it
helps to have a separate company to run the business through. But that’s
also the problem, if the UCI is getting mixed up in promotion and
business it’s quite a step away from the traditional role of a governing
body. Given the UCI and its staff now have a direct financial interest
in the race in Beijing it sets up a fraught scenario where decisions on
business aren’t taken by third parties or kept at arm’s length. The UCI
will decide whether to award the Chinese race a World Tour spot… I think we can guess the result already.”

http://inrng.com/2011/04/the-ucis-new-private-business/

It’s a travesty that the UCI can be so blatantly corrupt without reprehension.
Abdu

David Millar’s complaints are about the timing, ie. teams/riders will need to secure visa’s in a very short time frame.

Millar lived in HK for his teenage years (his old man was a pilot with Cathay), so knows a fair bit about China.

I’m more interested in the comment about Millar by the UCI guy: ”He has a specific situation with regards to visas, but that’s a unique case”.

Please explain…? (hold nasal passages together and remove most of brain to say it correctly)
Jjowett

It worked well in Russia, where a small group of ex KGB etc. all bought the state assets at reduced prices in dodgy sales.

Like lots about professional cycling, when you ask the hard questions you’re faced with the hard answers, and it’s always ugly. Like the sight of Marco Pantani climbing Alpe D’Huez in record time, a beautiful thing until you ask how he did it..

Look at the sport as a whole, basically owned by a private French family (the Amaury family) who own the Tour, Giro, 50% of La Vuelta, the Monuments/Classics, etc. For years they have demanded better and faster races from the riders, no questions asked so long as they don’t get caught doping, well not much anyway. The UCI could probably gave tips to Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein on how to run the show your way, without retribution and ideally by including your family wherever possible.

Best we don’t ask too many questions.
Jjowett

It worked well in Russia, where a small group of ex KGB etc. all bought the state assets at reduced prices in dodgy sales.

Like lots about professional cycling, when you ask the hard questions you’re faced with the hard answers, and it’s always ugly. Like the sight of Marco Pantani climbing Alpe D’Huez in record time, a beautiful thing until you ask how he did it..

Look at the sport as a whole, basically owned by a private French family (the Amaury family) who own the Tour, Giro, 50% of La Vuelta, the Monuments/Classics, etc. For years they have demanded better and faster races from the riders, no questions asked so long as they don’t get caught doping, well not much anyway. The UCI could probably gave tips to Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein on how to run the show your way, without retribution and ideally by including your family wherever possible.

Best we don’t ask too many questions.
jules

i don’t get the short time frame – did they just invent this race last week? i would have thought he knew about it for a while and had an opportunity to sort a visa. maybe i’m missing something, but the constant complaining about the UCI seems a bit like whingeing to me – even if they deserve some of it.
jules

i totally disagree with the Inner Ring view on this. pro cycling has for decades remained stagnant as it has been overtaken by more professional, slick sports bodies – tennis, golf, NBA, formula one..

cycling has so much to offer as a sport, yet it remains a minor one with limited credibility and public interest. there is nothing wrong with the UCI seeking to expand its market. yes, it’s blatantly commercial, but it’s also good. the idea that the ‘purity’ of the sport (and it’s anything but that) needs to be protected is – well it’s pretty obvious that there’s no such purity.
jules

i totally disagree with the Inner Ring view on this. pro cycling has for decades remained stagnant as it has been overtaken by more professional, slick sports bodies – tennis, golf, NBA, formula one..

cycling has so much to offer as a sport, yet it remains a minor one with limited credibility and public interest. there is nothing wrong with the UCI seeking to expand its market. yes, it’s blatantly commercial, but it’s also good. the idea that the ‘purity’ of the sport (and it’s anything but that) needs to be protected is – well it’s pretty obvious that there’s no such purity.
Timo

No one mentioned “purity of the sport”. This is about conflict of interest.

The UCI are an independent governing body, not a business. Their role should be administration, not profit.

For example, if a politician started a construction company and then awarded building contacts to it, the public would be up in arms; regardless of how good the building company was or how good it was for the projects.

In this case the governing body starts a promotional company then accredits a race run by it(then uses its status as the governing body to force teams to attend) and everyone is fine with it. All of a sudden it’s “for the sport”. Bollocks. The sooner the UCI board is replaced with competent ethical administrators the better the sport will be for everyone.
jules

but aren’t lots of sports administered by bodies responsible for governance, promotion and in fact, everything else? i’m sure it’s pretty common. the AFL is one example.
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Jules, the AFL, NFL, NBA, Formula 1, etc are all professional leagues. The UCI is a governing body. This post might explain better: http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2011/03/what-a-new-cycling-league-might-look-like/
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Jules, the AFL, NFL, NBA, Formula 1, etc are all professional leagues. The UCI is a governing body. This post might explain better: http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2011/03/what-a-new-cycling-league-might-look-like/
jules

thanks Wade. i did read that blog post again and it is clear, but i’m unconvinced that the Pro League model would remove the conflicts of interest being referred to here. as i see it, a Pro League would substantially just replace the UCI.

the only difference i can see is that the Pro League (under the diagram in your post) wouldn’t be the governing body. but that’s not where the conflict of interest highlighted here stems from. i would have thought a Pro League could – and many do – get involved in both accrediting events (e.g. the Tour of Beijing) and promoting/commercially operating them (e.g. the… Tour of Beijing). the major difference, as i see it, is that other Pro Leagues tend to have a monopoly on both (e.g. the AFL won’t even let another organisation promote an AFL event), while the UCI (in its guise as a de facto league operator) allows competition, albeit not necessarily on a level playing field.

i would acknowledge that there’s arguably a conflict of interest, or at least a sloping playing field, but i ‘m unsure that it’s unique to the UCI or pro cycling.