Pat McQuaid

Pat McQuaid (2011)

Pat McQuaid (born September 5, 1949 in Dublin ) is a former Irish cyclist and was president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) from 2005 to 2013 .

Athletic career

Pat McQuaid grew up as the oldest of ten siblings in an Irish cycling family. His father Jim and his younger brothers Paul and Darach were active cyclists. Two other brothers, Kieron and Oliver , competed as racing cyclists in the Olympic Games. His sons Andrew and David work as managers and race organizers.

In his time as a racing driver, McQuaid was considered a strong sprinter. His successes include winning the Irish road championship in 1974 and the Tour of Ireland in 1975 and 1976. He was not allowed to compete at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because he violated the Olympic boycott of the apartheid regime by participating in a cycling race in South Africa .

Career as a functionary and trainer

From 1981 to 1984 Pat McQuaid worked as a trainer for the Irish Cycling Federation and from 1994 to 1998 its chairman. In September 2005, McQuaid was elected chairman of the UCI. He was considered to be the successor to his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen , and was therefore favored. From 2010 to 2013 he was a member of the International Olympic Committee .

His work as a cycling official is very controversial: he is accused of not credibly positioning the UCI against doping and, in particular, of trying to cover up the doping case of the later disqualified Alberto Contador at the 2010 Tour de France . Among his sharpest critics are the three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond , the former President of the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer Sylvia Schenk and the Luxembourg Association President Jean Regenwetter. Another critic is the Irish journalist and former professional cyclist Paul Kimmage , who like McQuaid belongs to an Irish "cycling dynasty" and whom McQuaid says he has known since he was a baby. Kimmage was sued by McQuaid, Verbruggen and the UCI in late 2012 in a Swiss court over his corruption allegations. In February 2014, McQuaid withdrew the lawsuit against Kimmage after the UCI under its new President Brian Cookson had already done so when he took office in September 2013.

In September 2013, serious corruption allegations were made against McQuaid and his predecessor in a 54-page dossier : Witnesses and documents prove that a team owner had been asked for € 250,000, and Alberto Contador had tried the positive doping test in return for financial consideration To cover up 2010 and to favor Lance Armstrong , who was banned in 2013 for years of doping , in particular to circumvent the anti-doping regulations in order to enable Armstrong's comeback at the Tour Down Under 2009 . McQuaid said the allegations were "false and not supported by a spark of evidence".

McQuaid's son Andrew was - even when his father was UCI President - the manager of prominent drivers such as Richie Porte , Nicolas Roche , Philip Deignan and Christophe Le Mével . This activity was strongly criticized by Gianni Bugno , President of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), in 2011 as a "conflict of interest". His brother Darach organized the UCI Road World Championships 2015 in Richmond, USA and was responsible for the start of the Giro d'Italia 2014 in Belfast ; his son David runs UCI races in Asia.

In the election of the UCI President at the Road Cycling World Championships in Florence on September 27, 2013, he was defeated by his competitor Brian Cookson , who had been nominated by the British Association.

The Cycling Independent Reform Commission (abbreviation CRIC, en., German: Independent Cycling Reform Commission), set up by the UCI after Pat McQuaid was voted out of office, published its results on March 9, 2015, investigating the association's involvement in doping. No evidence of bribery was found. However, the CRIC pointed to numerous violations by the UCI of the anti-doping regulations and of good governance principles during the tenure of McQuaid and his predecessor Verbruggen, in particular in favor of Lance Armstrong. For example, a temporal connection between the exemption for Lance Armstrong's start in the Tour Down Under and his acceptance of the tour of Ireland , which was organized by Pat McQuaid's brother Darach, was established.

Web links

Commons : Pat McQuaid  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Pat McQuaid in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c demands for} resignation: McQuaid with his back to the wall , rad-net.de of October 26, 2012
2. ↑ Lionel Birnie: Who is Pat McQuaid? (PDF) (No longer available online.) Cycle Sport, September 2012, archived from the original on February 24, 2014 ; accessed on February 19, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ UCI provides clarification regarding its case against Kimmage , cyclingnews of October 2, 2012
4. ↑ McQuaid withdraws lawsuit against Kimmage. radsport-news.com, February 16, 2014, accessed February 19, 2014 . 
5. ↑ McQuaid and Verbruggen are accused of corruption , radsport-news.com of September 10, 2013
6. ↑ Summary of "A Report on Corruption in the Leadership of the Union Cyclist Internationale" ( Memento of the original of March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.6 MB) from velonews.com accessed on September 10, 2013 
7. ↑ Barry Ryan: Darach McQuaid sees no conflict of interests in Richmond Worlds bid role - Cyclingnews.com. In: cyclingnews.com. February 2, 2015, accessed May 5, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Irish mafia inject craic into cycling - Blazin 'Saddles. (No longer available online.) In: au.eurosport.com. February 23, 2013, archived from the original on May 18, 2015 ; Retrieved May 5, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Barry Ryan: Darach McQuaid sees no conflict of interests in Richmond Worlds bid role - Cyclingnews.com. In: cyclingnews.com. January 28, 2015, accessed May 5, 2015 . 
10. ↑ radsport-news.com: Cookson new UCI President - change of power in world cycling , radsport-news.com of September 27, 2013
11. ↑ CIRC: "The fight against doping is far from over". radsport-news.com, March 9, 2015, accessed March 10, 2015 . 
12. ↑ The violations and misconduct of the UCI. radsport-news.com, March 9, 2015, accessed March 10, 2015 . 
13. ^ CIRC finds no proof of UCI corruption but questions linger over governance. rcycling-news.com, March 10, 2015, accessed on March 10, 2015 (English).