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Australia's Chloe Hosking to apologise for calling Pat McQuaid "a bit of a dick"

Commonwealth Games medallist sticks by her point though - female cyclists deserve more recognition

Australian cyclist Chloe Hosking has said that she will apologise to Pat McQuaid for calling the UCI president “a bit of a dick,” although she is likely to stick by the point she was underlining, namely that world cycling’s governing body does not do enough to support female riders.

Hosking, bronze medallist at the women’s road race at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, made her remarks after winning the opening round of the Jayco Bay Criterium Series on New Year’s Day in the colours of the Specialized-Lululemon team, the successor outfit to her former HTC-Highroad team.

In a statement released yesterday, Hosking said: "I have to apologise for how I phrased my comments, I wasn't that eloquent," reports The Age.

Her criticism of McQuaid was based on comments the UCI president made last year saying that female pro cyclists did not deserve a minimum salary, with the newspaper saying that 50 per cent of them do not receive any money from their teams.

"Women's cycling every year is getting stronger and stronger," insisted Hosking. "It needs to get more recognition and I'm not going to apologise for what I said, but I do apologise for how I said it."

Hosking’s national federation, Cycling Australia, announced on Sunday that it would "be seeking an explanation from Chloe before making any decision regarding disciplinary action".

"All our members have the right to express views contrary to those of the UCI, but it is not acceptable for any member of Cycling Australia to personally denigrate others.

"Name-calling does nothing to enhance the reputation of professional women's cycling. Under the Cycling Australia code of conduct and UCI regulations, Chloe is afforded the right to be treated with respect by her fellow riders, administrators and officials of the sport. Therefore she should afford the same rights to them."

Hosking, however, defended the point she was making. 'I think it [women's cycling] needs to get more recognition and I'm not going to apologise for what I said, but I do apologise for how I phrased it,'' she explained.

''This has got the world talking about women's cycling hasn't it?''

For his part, Mr McQuaid said that he did not wish to respond to Hosking’s criticism, and likewise the UCI has not issued any statement in response to the cyclist’s remarks, which come days after Italy’s two-time road world champion Giorgia Bronzini said that her rainbow jersey was worth just as much as that won by Mark Cavendish.
 

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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13 comments

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Daclu Trelub | 12 years ago
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Based on my reading of this article I would say he is a 'bit of a dick', indeed.
Good on yer, Chloe!

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The _Kaner | 12 years ago
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Hey Pat..you're a DICK..in fact you're probably too much of a c*** to be a DICK!
No I'm not going to apologise to him!
Sexist geriatric!

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Bigfoz | 12 years ago
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"Bit of"? "Complete" would be more accurate...

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WolfieSmith | 12 years ago
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What the eloquent expression for 'dick' is I'm not sure but either way - good for her.

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KirinChris | 12 years ago
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Hoskings was bang out of order...

... he's not a bit of a dick, he's a total dick.

It is a rare feat which allows McQuaid to adopt the high moral ground.

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PaulVWatts | 12 years ago
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"it is not acceptable for any member of Cycling Australia to personally denigrate others" But Pat McQuaid can denigrate every professional woman cyclist without any censure. Shame on Cycling Australia.

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solentine | 12 years ago
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Do Sepp and Pat have a flat share?!They must get on like a house on fire.

A very expensive flat though.

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antonio | 12 years ago
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I love the Australian way of telling it as it really is.

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BigDummy | 12 years ago
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I'm not sure apologising for how one phrased the thought that "he is a bit of a dick" really counts as an apology.

 3

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JohnS | 12 years ago
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As in all sports, beware of the blazers. They're living in 1956.

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Kevcaster | 12 years ago
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Let's hope cycling avoids the Formula One lash-up with a few elderly gentlemen coining it in while the sport becomes a marketing exercise - I'm not optimistic

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mr-andrew | 12 years ago
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I reckon she's spot on.

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monty dog | 12 years ago
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Talk about a statement of the blindingly obvious - I could think of plenty of other terms for Fat Pat, his Swiss Gnomes and their nepotistic tendencies to try and turn pro cycling into their own private fiefdom whilst their conspire to quietly brush the mis-deeds of others under the carpet.

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