Open Letter to Pat McQuaid from Greg LeMond



steve

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Aug 12, 2001
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Open Letter to Pat McQuaid from Greg LeMond Can anyone help me out? I know this sounds kind of lame but I am not well versed in social marketing. I would like to send a message to everyone that really loves cycling. I do not use twitter and do not have an organized way of getting some of my own "rage" out. I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to f##k off and resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling's history- resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport. Pat McQuaid, you know dam well what has been going on in cycling, and if you want to deny it, then even more reasons why those who love cycling need to demand that you resign. I have a file with what I believe is well documented proof that will exonerate Paul. Pat in my opinion you and Hein are the corrupt part of the sport. I do not want to include everyone at the UCI because I believe that there are many, maybe most that work at the UCI that are dedicated to cycling, they do it out of the love of the sport, but you and your buddy Hein have destroyed the sport. Pat, I thought you loved cycling? At one time you did and if you did love cycling please dig deep inside and remember that part of your life- allow cycling to grow and flourish- please! It is time to walk away. Walk away if you love cycling. As a reminder I just want to point out that you recently you accused me of being the cause of USADA's investigation against Lance Armstrong. Why would you be inclined to go straight to me as the "cause"? Why shoot the messenger every time? Every time you do this I get more and more entrenched. I was in your country over the last two weeks and I asked someone that knows you if you were someone that could be rehabilitated. His answer was very quick and it was not good for you. No was the answer, no, no , no! The problem for sport is not drugs but corruption. You are the epitome of the word corruption. You can read all about Webster's definition of corruption. If you want I can re-post my attorney's response to your letter where you threaten to sue me for calling the UCI corrupt. FYI I want to officially reiterate to you and Hein that in my opinion the two of your represent the essence of corruption. I would encourage anyone that loves cycling to donate and support Paul in his fight against the Pat and Hein and the UCI. Skip lunch and donate the amount that you would have spent towards that Sunday buffet towards changing the sport of cycling. I donated money for Paul's defense, and I am willing to donate a lot more, but I would like to use it to lobby for dramatic change in cycling. The sport does not need Pat McQuaid or Hein Verbruggen- if this sport is going to change it is now. Not next year, not down the road, now! Now or never! People that really care about cycling have the power to change cycling- change it now by voicing your thought and donating money towards Paul Kimmage's defense, (Paul, I want to encourage you to not spend the money that has been donated to your defense fund on defending yourself in Switzerland. In my case, a USA citizen, I could care less if I lost the UCI's bogus lawsuit. Use the money to lobby for real change). If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is. Don't buy a USA Cycling license. Give up racing for a year, just long enough to put the UCI and USA cycling out of business. We can then start from scratch and let the real lovers in cycling direct where and how the sport of cycling will go. Please make a difference. Greg
 
Thanks for posting this, Steve.

I hope LeMond's initiative gains traction and that he gets support from the support base that follows the sport.

I'd love to see former riders like LeMond and Andy Hampsten get nominated to important roles in the UCI.
Of course they would have to be willing to serve at the UCI.

Does LeMond have a contact address?
 
I must agree. The UCI and it's president knew darn full and well what was going on. there is no way that they could not. They were given large amounts of money toward "Anti Doping" and yet they continually think that we are dumb enough to believe that this was not a pay off. Step down and give room to the people that will look after the sport and not their pocketbook first.
 
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This whole fiasco isn't necessarily bad for cycling - it's potentially good for cycling. It gives the sport the greatest opportunity to clean house and reset. That process needs to include the departure of McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen.

Pro cycling needs to sink a little bit lower before it hits rock bottom and then rise again like a pheonix from the Ashes. Still, for all the Lemonds, Hampstens and Bassons, there are still the deniers - the likes of Contador, Schleck, Indurain who would seemingly prefer to preserve the status quo.

The momentum in cleaning up the sport needs to continue until they are in the minority. The forthcoming doping investigations in other countries will help. This should have happened after the Festina debacle in 1998 - hopefully this chain of events can go deeper and cut out a lot more of the rot.
 
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britbox said:
This whole fiasco isn't necessarily bad for cycling - it's potentially good for cycling.  It gives the sport the greatest opportunity to clean house and reset.  That process needs to include the departure of McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen.   Pro cycling needs to sink a little bit lower before it hits rock bottom and then rise again like a pheonix from the Ashes.  Still, for all the Lemonds, Hampstens and Bassons, there are still the deniers - the likes of Contador, Schleck, Indurain who would seemingly prefer to preserve the status quo. The momentum in cleaning up the sport needs to continue until they are in the minority.  The forthcoming doping investigations in other countries will help.   This should have happened after the Festina debacle in 1998 - hopefully this chain of events can go deeper and cut out a lot more of the rot.
The only that's bad about the USADA/Armstrong kerfuffle is that sponsors and the public tend to view catching dopers as a sign that cycling is bad and is not worthy of money as the other sports are. I'd argue that every doper caught or every doper the comes forward is a good thing, as it's another step forward toward minimizing doping in cycling. It's a sign that at least parts of the system are working. Meanwhile all of the sports that don't do doping tests hide so as not to have the bright light shined on them. Moreover, big finding as this latest one are opportunities for cycling to improve its anti-doping measures and process. Right now a lot of folks in cycling and likely quite a few folks at the UCI are discovering or see that it's time for McQuaid and Verbruggen to go, that they are actually in getting in the way of the anti-doping effort. Getting them to leave will make the process better. On the technical side of the issue, every time a doper is caught there's another opportunity to learn what detection methods need improved, to learn what new drugs are being used, and to learn the tactics of doping programs. That's always good.
 
After reading dismissive or anti-USADA comments by Indurain, Hinault, Jalabert, Merckx, and all those other ex-pro collaborators, and the deafening silences from so many others, I am encouraged by the positions taken by LeMond and Robert Millar.

LeMond swings for the bleachers, with commitment and courage--no dumb tweets or Facebook comments, just an open letter that states his position for everybody who has an interest in this. Damn, I hope he has his facts and his house in order, because I want him to be right.
 
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Originally Posted by oldbobcat .

After reading dismissive or anti-USADA comments by Indurain, Hinault, Jalabert, Merckx, and all those other ex-pro collaborators, and the deafening silences from so many others, I am encouraged by the positions taken by LeMond and Robert Millar.

LeMond swings for the bleachers, with commitment and courage--no dumb tweets or Facebook comments, just an open letter that states his position for everybody who has an interest in this. Damn, I hope he has his facts and his house in order, because I want him to be right.
I am inclined to agree with them. The whole drug testing things is a miserable failure. If cycling goes down the drain for 10 years which it looks like it is headed that way it will be USADA inability to apply effective drug testing and UCI to step in behind them. This time there will not be a Lance Armstrong to bail out the sport.
 
as much as i admire Lemond he has been behaving like the old brother who is jealous of the younger, and more succesful one than him who gets all the attention, Armstrong,
 
hpearson said:
I am inclined to agree with them.  The whole drug testing things is a miserable failure. If cycling goes down the drain for 10 years which it looks like it is headed that way it will be USADA inability to apply effective drug testing and UCI to step in behind them.  This time there will not be a Lance Armstrong to bail out the sport.
There is no basis whatsoever for 10 year alarmism. Moreover it's certainly not a failure of USADA if Verbruggen and/or McQuaid were actively covering up US Postals doping. All of the xADA variants will likely improve from this, and detection tools and strategies will likely get better. With increasing pressure from riders and possibly from teams and organizations like ASO, and RCS Sport, it could very well become impossible for McQuaid and Verbruggen to stay connected to the UCI. There is no love lost between ASO, RCS, and the UCI. Pro cycling, and the ProTour specifically, has a quite a number of exciting and talented riders coming up through the ranks. I, for one, am looking forward to next season and the seasons that follow. Frankly I think that riders like Peter Sagan, TJ van Garderen, Chris Froome, and etc. will bring at least as much excitement as Armstrong ever did. There was very little excitement, IMHO, in what the "Blue Train" did.
 
Originally Posted by alienator .


There is no basis whatsoever for 10 year alarmism. Moreover it's certainly not a failure of USADA if Verbruggen and/or McQuaid were actively covering up US Postals doping. All of the xADA variants will likely improve from this, and detection tools and strategies will likely get better. With increasing pressure from riders and possibly from teams and organizations like ASO, and RCS Sport, it could very well become impossible for McQuaid and Verbruggen to stay connected to the UCI. There is no love lost between ASO, RCS, and the UCI.
Pro cycling, and the ProTour specifically, has a quite a number of exciting and talented riders coming up through the ranks. I, for one, am looking forward to next season and the seasons that follow. Frankly I think that riders like Peter Sagan, TJ van Garderen, Chris Froome, and etc. will bring at least as much excitement as Armstrong ever did. There was very little excitement, IMHO, in what the "Blue Train" did.
We have had this conversation already. It was boring the first time.

Drug testing is a flop and USADA is responsible for it. Catching people after they have made millions will not keep young riders from doping.

I think the fall out on this thing is just beginning, it is going to be one wild ass thing right after another for a while.

No one is safe, the dominies are still falling. If the sponsor don't share your enthusiasm this thing is in a lot trouble.

I couldn't disagree more about what the initial armstrong story did for the sport. The TDF was nuts in those years. There were a million people on alps d' huez the year they had the time trial.

It brought people into the sport that had no interest in cycling. **** my parents started watching it at 70 and had never heard of the TDF before. It had universal interest cause of Lances story.

It will fade into obscurity until something comes along bigger than the LA story and that will be a while.
 
Originally Posted by vspa .

as much as i admire Lemond he has been behaving like the old brother who is jealous of the younger, and more succesful one than him who gets all the attention, Armstrong,
Well put, that is exactly the vibe I get from him but he seems to have abandoned the attack on LA and moved on to the UCI which is nobel.

His letter to McQuaid was disappointing as an elder statement of cycling.
 
Originally Posted by hpearson .

Well put, that is exactly the vibe I get from him but he seems to have abandoned the attack on LA and moved on to the UCI which is nobel.

His letter to McQuaid was disappointing as an elder statement of cycling.
would you care to cite some specific passages which lead to your summation of "disappointing"? should be fodder for some interesting discussion.
 
hpearson said:
We have had this conversation already.  It was boring the first time. Drug testing is a flop and USADA is responsible for it.  Catching people after they have made millions will not keep young riders from doping. I think the fall out on this thing is just beginning, it is going to be one wild ass thing right after another for a while. No one is safe, the dominies are still falling.  If the sponsor don't share your enthusiasm this thing is in a lot trouble. I couldn't disagree more about what the initial armstrong story did for the sport.  The TDF was nuts in those years.  There were a million people on alps d' huez the year they had the time trial.  It brought people into the sport that had no interest in cycling.  **** my parents started watching it at 70 and had never heard of the TDF before.  It had universal interest cause of Lances story. It will fade into obscurity until something comes along bigger than the LA story and that will be a while.
It's telling that you find the most critical issue in pro cycling boring. It's also telling that you tend toward binary predictions of what's to come. It appears you're not willing to analyze the situation beyond what you've already decided based on your bias. Further you have not proof that drug testing is a flop, and as already mentioned, you refuse to consider any other views because you use your bias, something at which arrived without much or any thought, to preclude realistic possibilities. Drug testing has had successes, and it's already making an impact on pro cycling and the racing specifically. Someone else has already posted decreases in times over some like that last 10 or 15 years. These time decreases are exactly what would be expected if doping was on the decline in the peloton. A anti-doping program is not a failure if it doesn't catch everyone. It cannot be perfect. The biological passport system will only become better as time goes by, data is collected, and trends are identified and anomalies resolve for analysis. It's pretty obvious that McQuaid and Verbruggen have at least hobbled the anti-doping measures through at least ignorance and more likely through malfeasance.
 
Originally Posted by alienator .


It's telling that you find the most critical issue in pro cycling boring. It's also telling that you tend toward binary predictions of what's to come. It appears you're not willing to analyze the situation beyond what you've already decided based on your bias. Further you have not proof that drug testing is a flop, and as already mentioned, you refuse to consider any other views because you use your bias, something at which arrived without much or any thought, to preclude realistic possibilities. Drug testing has had successes, and it's already making an impact on pro cycling and the racing specifically. Someone else has already posted decreases in times over some like that last 10 or 15 years. These time decreases are exactly what would be expected if doping was on the decline in the peloton. A anti-doping program is not a failure if it doesn't catch everyone. It cannot be perfect. The biological passport system will only become better as time goes by, data is collected, and trends are identified and anomalies resolve for analysis. It's pretty obvious that McQuaid and Verbruggen have at least hobbled the anti-doping measures through at least ignorance and more likely through malfeasance.
250 tests, no positive test by the biggest PED user in the history of sports...... LOL

"if it doesn't catch every one" " it is not perfect", "they are making progress" Blah Blah Blah

Besides Contador who may be the first false positive at that ppm who have they caught with a drug test out of how many drug users and how many test.

.00001% Take those odds to Vegas and you don't make through the revolving door at the Bellagio!
 
uci suspends proceedings against kimmage until an independent review of practices can be completed? is there a bigger kick to mc quaid's balls the uci can deliver?
 
Originally Posted by alienator .


There is no basis whatsoever for 10 year alarmism. Moreover it's certainly not a failure of USADA if Verbruggen and/or McQuaid were actively covering up US Postals doping. All of the xADA variants will likely improve from this, and detection tools and strategies will likely get better. With increasing pressure from riders and possibly from teams and organizations like ASO, and RCS Sport, it could very well become impossible for McQuaid and Verbruggen to stay connected to the UCI. There is no love lost between ASO, RCS, and the UCI.
Pro cycling, and the ProTour specifically, has a quite a number of exciting and talented riders coming up through the ranks. I, for one, am looking forward to next season and the seasons that follow. Frankly I think that riders like Peter Sagan, TJ van Garderen, Chris Froome, and etc. will bring at least as much excitement as Armstrong ever did. There was very little excitement, IMHO, in what the "Blue Train" did.
I'm with you on this. What's exciting about the new young riders is there's so many of them, and with such various talents and an apparent commitment to riding clean.

The young riders, new team managers, and many of the sponsors are at least expressing lip service to clean cycling. That beats the silent treatment of 14 years ago. At some point the UCI will need to respond.
 
hpearson said:
250 tests, no positive test by the biggest PED user in the history of sports...... LOL "if it doesn't catch every one"   " it is not perfect",  "they are making progress"  Blah Blah Blah    Besides Contador who may be the first false positive at that ppm who have they caught with a drug test out of how many drug users and how many test. .00001%  Take those odds to Vegas and you don't make through the revolving door at the Bellagio!
Is there a point in there, or are you just making random statements?
 
Originally Posted by oldbobcat .


I'm with you on this. What's exciting about the new young riders is there's so many of them, and with such various talents and an apparent commitment to riding clean.

The young riders, new team managers, and many of the sponsors are at least expressing lip service to clean cycling. That beats the silent treatment of 14 years ago. At some point the UCI will need to respond.
The fall out is only two weeks old lads. If more sponsors drop cause they anticipate less people following then the TV coverage will leave prime time and then the salaries for athletes will drop and that may attract less talented athletes.

Radio Shack isn't doing all the well financially anyway. I can see them dropping. Garmin might bail. These aren't big companies. They need bang for the buck and if cycling ain't providing it they may have to buy a top fuel dragster or monster truck.

I heard a potential new sponsor might be Chico's Bail Bonds. This may feel in some of the gaps but Chico's ain't paying as much as they did for little league baseball in the 70's.

The riders will be back to riding for themselves and carrying the own tubes criss cross across their chest. They will have to bring back the Wide World of Sports so we can get a 3 week condensed highlight version of the tour in one hour.

Ahhh!, it was better when they were drinking wine and smoking cigarettes during the race anyway.
 
Originally Posted by hpearson .

250 tests, no positive test by the biggest PED user in the history of sports...... LOL

"if it doesn't catch every one" " it is not perfect", "they are making progress" Blah Blah Blah

Besides Contador who may be the first false positive at that ppm who have they caught with a drug test out of how many drug users and how many test.

.00001% Take those odds to Vegas and you don't make through the revolving door at the Bellagio!
So if the sport isn't perfect it should just kick over and die?

You doomsayers ought to read William Faulkner's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. Here's the link: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/williamfaulknernobelprizeaddress.htm