From Eurosport:
Verbruggen, 63, confirmed that he will vacate the UCI's presidency at
the end of the 2005 cycling season, ending a 20-year reign at the helm of
professional cycling.
"I have been president of the professional federation for seven years,
and now I have been president of the UCI for the past 13 years," Verbruggen
told Eurosport.
"It's time to leave the legacy. Cycling will be in good hands," he
added, making mention of his successor, Irishman Pat McQuaid, currently
serving the UCI in the role of president of the organisation's Road
Commission.
"I told the executive committee three years ago to agree on a
candidate. They've done so. Pat is well suited for the job."
That Verbruggen plans to keep one more season's watch is primarily due
to the inauguration of the UCI's ambitious Pro Tour -- a grand
re-structuring experiment that aims to force the world's star-power teams to
send their best riders to the biggest events on the calendar.
The impetus of the Pro Tour, of course, is to cajole appearances from
top cyclists (read: Lance Armstrong) at races other than the Tour de France.
"I do regret that Armstrong only focuses on the Tour, but not to the
extent of being mad at him," Verbruggen said.
"Back in the days, I got frustrated with [Greg] Lemond, who was
capable of winning any race but also focused on the Tour de France. But what
can you hold against these guys? They give 10 years of their lives to this
sport, and they have to be successful at finding a way to make a living.
Armstrong bets everything on the Tour de France. It's worked for him."
It may not, however, work for the American in 2005, as the new Pro
Tour will require cycling formations to race an equal-opportunity season,
placing as much emphasis on the Giro and Vuelta, for example, as on the Tour
de France.
If Verbruggen has found the solution for the inequities of the cycling
season, he's not quite as proactive when it comes to doping, a problem he
tries to temper with exuberant and, possibly, misguided optimism.
"I'm sorry that the media has adopted a politic of saying, 'They're
all on [doping products]'," Verbruggen responded when asked to compare the
doping allegations in cycling and the positive tests turned in by athletes
in Athens.
"They're not all on it. I'm convinced of it, for the Olympics and in
my sport as well. The majority of the riders are clean."
A majority, Mr. Verbruggen, is just a nudge over 50 percent...
"Okay, well, we have 1.5 percent of positive cases," Verbruggen
responds.
"We all know there are some athletes that are getting away with it.
But I have no reason to think that the percentage is higher than 1.5
percent. We are able to see who is clean and who isn't... It's the same in
Greece. Some will get caught, some will get away, but there's no reason to
think that the majority of athletes are positive."
"Certainly not."
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