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Lance Armstrong a "scapegoat" insists Pat McQuaid

Ex-UCI president's comments come as Armstrong criticises Brian Cookson on record of tackling doping...

Former UCI president Pat McQuaid says Lance Armstrong was a “scapegoat” and the victim of a "witch hunt." His comments come as Armstrong criticises Brian Cookson, who succeeded McQuaid to the UCI presidency in 2013, for his record on tackling doping since assuming the top job at the governing body.

In October 2012, ratifying the lifetime ban handed to Armstrong by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the stripping of results including the seven successive editions of the Tour de France he won from 1999 to 2005, McQuaid said the former US Postal Service rider “has no place in cycling.”

But now he has told BBC Radio 5 Live that he feels "a certain sympathy" with him. "He was very much made a scapegoat, there was a witch hunt after Armstrong," he said.

McQuaid, who during his time in office faced uncomfortable questions about whether the UCI had helped cover up Armstrong’s doping, said it was wrong that USADA had treated Armstrong differently from other riders who had used drugs.

"That's the way it was. USADA wanted a big name,” he said. "They weren't really interested in the smaller riders and also they made deals with the smaller riders in order to get the information they needed on the big guys.

"I can have a certain sympathy because I don't think in sport, people in those situations, I think they should be treated equally," he added.

The Irishman was speaking as the BBC prepares to air the first television interview with Armstrong since his televised confession to Oprah Winfrey two years ago.

The programme, called Lance Armstrong, The Road Ahead, airs on BBC News tonight at 8.30pm.

In the interview, Armstrong is critical of the way Cookson has gone about tackling doping as well as his handling of the Astana affair.

The Kazakh team, which Armstrong rode for on his emergence from retirement in 2009, is on what Cookson describes as “probation” after two of its riders failed drugs tests last year, leading to its WorldTour licence being reviewed.

Cookson insisted the UCI had to act within its regulations and that any sanction on Astana needed to follow the letter of the law.

Some were disappointed he had not cracked down on Alexandre Vinokourov’s outfit, however, with Armstrong saying “everybody thinks”

Astana should have had its licence taken away, although he acknowledged that Cookson needed to follow the rules, but he also took the UCI president to task for allowing Vinokourov and Tinkoff-Saxo general manager Bjarne Riis to occupy senior positions in their teams.

He added: "If McQuaid had made the same decisions Cookson has made in his first year, he would have been lynched.”

Armstrong also acknowledged that USADA’s probe into him and his subsequent ban had in part overshadowed the achievements of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, winners of the Tour de France in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The 43-year-old said: "I'm sorry, and I completely agree that because of the timing of things, it is down to me," he said.

"[The USADA Reasoned Decision] comes out after the Tour in 2012, so it's logical that in 2013 there's going to be a lot of questions. Especially in a year when Chris Froome performs exceptionally.

"Look, Froome won the Tour in 2013, that's 14 years after 1999. If in 1999 I was asked questions about the 1985 winner of the Tour de France, I'd be like 'What are you talking about? Why are you asking me about the mid-80s?'

"But the story was so relevant to people. When this went down, people were left with the impression, in 2012, that I was hanging blood bags six months earlier. That's not the case,” he added.

"So I feel bad for those guys, they shouldn't have been put in that position. I'm not sure why they were put in a position to answer 15-year-old questions, but it's unfortunate for all of us, especially for them."

Away from sport, Armstrong is making an unlikely cameo appearance in the new single by Future User, founded by Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford. The video features a voiceover by Armstrong interposed with footage of a skateboarder administering himself an injection.

According to Rolling Stone the subject of the song, Mountain Lion, is “the misplaced outrage over performance-enhancing drugs.”

Commerford said: "The amount of attention given to PEDs is incredible, especially when you consider the amount of drugs – recreational, illegal and pharmaceutical – that America supports and profits from."

He went on: "Lance is a friend, an awesome person and, as far as I'm concerned, a punk rocker. We're cycling buddies and kind of go after each other in a trash-talking.

"We'll jokingly leave each other voice messages like, 'Dude, I'm gonna crush you the next time I see you. I'm gonna take you down.' I thought it'd be cool to put one of his voice messages in the song.”

He added: “When it came time to make the video, I asked him to recreate the voicemail and he was totally cool with it."

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

Avatar
Pat Hayes | 9 years ago
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Serious questions have to be asked about Brian Cookson . How a middle ranking English Local government officer with no expierience of riding , team management or race organisation at the highest level became the most powerfull person in a global proffessional sport is of concern enough . Who paid for his election campaign , was it the trade team sponsor which is also the sponsor of his national federation and which is part of a business empire with a history of at best questionable ethics. Why did he not feel there was a potential conflict of interest when this trade team employed his son in a role that looks like a sinecure . Add to this the strange handling of the Tiernan Locke affair and the haste to allow Chris Froome a frankly suspicious medical exemption certificate plus the failure to investigate allegations around the miss use off painkillers by the same trade team and he looks even less credible than McQuaid .

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farrell replied to Pat Hayes | 9 years ago
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Pat Hayes wrote:

Serious questions have to be asked about Brian Cookson.

/\This bit is correct/\

\/This bit is mainly nonsense that may as well say "Here be dragons"\/

Pat Hayes wrote:

How a middle ranking English Local government officer with no expierience of riding , team management or race organisation at the highest level became the most powerfull person in a global proffessional sport is of concern enough . Who paid for his election campaign , was it the trade team sponsor which is also the sponsor of his national federation and which is part of a business empire with a history of at best questionable ethics. Why did he not feel there was a potential conflict of interest when this trade team employed his son in a role that looks like a sinecure . Add to this the strange handling of the Tiernan Locke affair and the haste to allow Chris Froome a frankly suspicious medical exemption certificate plus the failure to investigate allegations around the miss use off painkillers by the same trade team and he looks even less credible than McQuaid .

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millskid | 9 years ago
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If lance had been a nice guy off tge bike, he would still have his titles.

However I think they should strip all dopers of all their previous wins. He was definitely singled out in that respect. Would love to see alberto 'dodgy steak' contador stripped of all his.

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LinusLarrabee | 9 years ago
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The whole doping thing is more complex than most people would care to admit. It's much easier to create a simple narrative with 'good guys' and 'bad guys' and frame everything else around that. It's also easier to label people depending on which side of the good / bad guys line they appear to be standing.

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manmachine replied to LinusLarrabee | 9 years ago
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Amidst all the crying and whining by the typical hypocrites and fan-boys...your comment is one of the most sensible and honest, written anywhere.

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andyp replied to LinusLarrabee | 9 years ago
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LinusLarrabee wrote:

The whole doping thing is more complex than most people would care to admit. It's much easier to create a simple narrative with 'good guys' and 'bad guys' and frame everything else around that. It's also easier to label people depending on which side of the good / bad guys line they appear to be standing.

I'm not sure many people do see it like that. The line is simply 'doped or not', not 'doped but generally ok'.

To most it's more a case of a spectrum from lot of bad guys of varying degrees of naughtiness, a few good guys, and several uber-cunts.

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Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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I thought there was just one cyclist who ruthlessly lied, cajoled, threatened, bullied, lied again and then brazenly came back for more. But now McQuaid is saying that they all did that?!?! I must have missed all the other 7 time winners who made a shit heap of cash while suing the crap out of everyone.

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pwake | 9 years ago
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Let's hope the CIRC report can put an end to this circus and soon.

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bikecellar | 9 years ago
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Time the old Mafia shuffled offstage, they made their money, wish they would just go away.

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sean1 | 9 years ago
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Pat McQuaid opens mouth and confirms why he had to go, along with side-kick Verbruggen.

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Who gives a damn what PM thinks, never have, never will.

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eddie11 | 9 years ago
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yawn.

I quite like not hearing from cookson. Hes meant to be running a governing body not be a celebrity.

What pissed me off about pat (and hes still at it it seems) is that he had a two bit quote for every, single, little thing except the important stuff.

As for lance, first rouleur and now the bbc. theres a cleverly organised PR comeback for Lance here isnt there  39

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Simon E replied to eddie11 | 9 years ago
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eddie11 wrote:

As for lance, first rouleur and now the bbc. theres a cleverly organised PR comeback for Lance here isnt there  39

Damn right there is. Lance never does anything without a serious (and always self-serving) motive.

Armstrong is the biggest reason why Wiggins and Froome were hassled so much during the 2012 and 2013 Tours. No-one is suggesting that he alone doped for years; but no other rider or team went to the extreme lengths he did in order to win those Tours - his doping methods, how he he abused his position of great influence, manipulating the media and in the vicious, spiteful way caused real harm to the people who didn't "believe in miracles".

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rore | 9 years ago
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Armstrong has a snipe at Cookson, McQuaid speaks out in support on Armstrong..  103

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southseabythesea | 9 years ago
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Scapegoat or megalomaniac who treated everyone like a piece of shit all for his need to win... You decide

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don simon fbpe | 9 years ago
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Quote:

McQuaid, who during his time in office faced uncomfortable questions about whether the UCI had helped cover up Armstrong’s doping, said it was wrong that USADA had treated Armstrong differently from other riders who had used drugs.

*Wonders whether Lance treated anyone differently from how other dopers treated people, what with the law suits, the organisation and the bullying... Just saying*

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Must be Mad | 9 years ago
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bla bla bla, two people who should feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves just sounding out like the rent-a-quote they are.

Don't feed the trolls.

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kitkat | 9 years ago
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I think Pat is referring to himself more than Lance here

Quote:

"He was very much made a scapegoat, there was a witch hunt..."

So glad Pat's out. People might be saying Cookson should do this or that and not the other thing but at least he's not running it as a boys club.

It would be good for Cookson to issue a periodical statement on where he is, what's going on and what will happen. I imagine he's working on change but for me reading road.cc & cycling weekly I'm not getting a lot of news about what's going on in there.

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