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Between a rock and a hard place: Teams caught in UCI/ASO war
Lefevere: 'Now we must choose between the firing squad and the guillotine.'
Racers and teams face an uncomfortable choice ahead of this weekend’s Paris-Nice as the war between cycling governing body and the powerful race organizer, Amaury Sport Organisation, reaches a breaking point.
To start Sunday’s Paris-Nice prologue means riders could be slapped with a six-month racing ban by an angry and frustrated UCI, but to skip Paris-Nice would torpedo teams’ chances of competing in ASO’s long list of marquee races that includes the Tour de France.
The danger of bans, however, is already prompting some riders to balk at the season’s first major stage race.
The Guardian reported that English riders Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins (High Road) will both skip Paris-Nice so to not risk missing out on the world track championships later this month.
So far, teams have ignored the UCI’s calls for a boycott but it’s still unclear which teams will race.
“Our intention is to race,” QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere told Der Telegraaf. “But now we must choose between the firing squad and the guillotine. If we say yes to the race, then we’re sanctioned. If we say yes to the UCI, then we don’t race the Tour. We should make them realize that we will not race in any race until this is resolved, but I can’t count on any solidarity among the teams.”
On Monday, teams’ representative Eric Boyer met with lawyers from ASO to reach a compromise on conditions that seemed to ease the way for acceptance for the major teams to start Paris-Nice despite growing pressure on ASO.
ASO and the UCI have been at loggerheads since the inception of the ProTour format in 2005, yet this latest split could mark a point of no return if a last-minute compromise isn’t reached.
Last month, ASO said it would organize Paris-Nice under the authority of the French cycling federation instead of with the UCI.
Some see that move as the first step of a formal break from the UCI and perhaps lead to the formation of a renegade race series outside the control of the international cycling governing body.
The UCI says ASO’s effort to remove Paris-Nice from its control is a flagrant power grab and is rallying its forces to snuff out ASO’s rebellion.
In a meeting over the weekend in Greece, the European cycling union voted 18-7 to support the UCI in its efforts to pressure the French cycling federation to not sanction Paris-Nice in what’s seen as a major boost for the beleaguered UCI.
“This decision shows clearly that the European national federations want races organized on their continent to respect the rules established by the UCI,” UCI president Pat McQuaid said in a statement. “This is a shot across the bow for anyone who is thinking of breaking away from the established regulatory framework.”
The cycling union – which includes federations from all European nations – also asked the UCI to review its controversial ProTour concept for the 2009 season.
Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen, who is the founder of the ProTour and remains a UCI vice president, said the war between the UCI and ASO has no room for compromise.
Repeating a threat made by McQuaid at last year’s world championships, Verbruggen said entire federations could be excluded from international competition if they don’t follow UCI guidelines.
“For us, Paris-Nice simply doesn’t exist. If it’s organized (under the French federation), it will be illegal,” Verbruggen told Belgian journalists. “If that happens, the French federation and its athletes will be on the sidelines for the world championships and the Olympics.”
So far, neither side is showing signs of backing down, but time is running out. Paris-Nice begins in four days.
