Pat McQuaid, Hein Verbruggen and UCI launch defamation action against Paul Kimmage

wait until you see the latest McQuad and Co rules for anyone wanting to ride in a UCI sanctioned race. We are now talking about UCI approved, socks, gloves, arm angles on aero bars, approved spirit levels and bike weighing equipment,not to mention the fact they re-wrote the wheel testing and frame approval system without telling anyone in the industry, all in the interest of rider safety and nothing to do with getting money from manufacturers.

For years i have been calling for an " Amnesty " so that the " Cheats " can be outted once and for all !
Those at the top of the sport are the ones who need to get their closets emptied and until the likes of McQuack and those he heads up clear their decks , the Cycling Industry will continue to be treated with disdain !

The current crop of Stars are being " tarred by the same Brush " since most of their managements have the whiff of corruption since they do not act in concert to force the issue !

Currently people feel that it is the best Pharmacists that are winning in this Sport and that there is too little being done to find those that wish to continue to drag the sport through the mud !

Even after an " Amnesty " there will be mugs who think they can beat the system but with Harsh Penalties such as " Total Exclusion from ANY SPORT employment for them and their assistants for their lifetime " there will be less benefit available to the athlete or their staff !

That's the trouble with truth and honesty - where do you draw the line? Me, I'm not big on whistle blowers - unless they blow the whistle at the time, while they're "in there" ... not when they've finished and they've fed richly in some cases off the table.

For years I have believed that Armstrong was clean. I still want to believe that, but given the weevils out of the woodwork stories just lately, I really am not that sure any more. The old "he said, she said" defence.

Pro cycling once was a mucky business for sure. Pls don't applaud Pantini's "achievements" - he was drugs cheat, plain and simple and it killed him. And how Virenque has the balls and gall to sit in judgement and comment on cycle racing is beyond me - what a shitty cheat!!

But now we've got Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and a host of other world class riders who are all squeaky clean ... so why can't we concentrate our press stories on the good guys these days and forget about the shit bags that have gone before?

There's rarely smoke without fire and if these people really are cheats and have had their reputations destroyed and can't find work in cycling, tough shit.

If you did it, put up and say so. If you didn't, prove it and defend yourself beyond any doubt. But don't posture. It's time to tell the real truth - and that includes your Mr Armstrong.

Kimmage may be in a few peoples faces too close for some people taste. I think he's going after the right people for the right reasons. If Kimmage wasn't Irish and from McQuaid's home town he would still be going after him and it wouldn't be mistaken for a personal attack.

He's pretty disappointed with Kelly and Roche in Rough Ride. I cannot comment on any involvement his fellow riders may or may not have had with doping in the 1980's. I can imagine in those days with less control there wasn't much of a choice. Ostracising those that break the code of silence is some people's choice I suppose. The strong ones stand up and come clean - which is why I admire Miller and support his bid to ride this summer.

You can't control doping by not being transparent at the the top. Something's going on and it would be great for the sport to find out what.

McQuaid is beginning to make Sepp Blatter look like Mary Poppins and this just makes him look even more silly.

A balanced view is difficult. Just finished "Rough Ride", "It's not about the bike", "Bad Blood" and "Racing through the dark" (Lots of Christmas presents!) Everyone has on opinion...and an agenda! It's just a shame that so much media interest is on doping and not on turning the cranks. Maybe I'll read less and ride more

£5,540 ?
After an indepth analysis by their lawyers, they must have come to the conclusion that they could sue for a total of 5,540£, ...
40£ for damages to the reputation and 5,500£ as punitive damages!
Everyone knows these guys reputation are not worth more than 40£ !

The Australian lady cyclists recent opinion of McQuaid just about sums it up.

UCI what a joke! A most corrupt orgnisation run by a man who broke the IOC apartheid ban of competing in South africa and now runs UCI and is a member of the IOC. A dishonest person who does not belong in sport.

Kimmage had every right to be bitter as a rider. He spent most of his young life riding/training to be a pro only to find out it was a very dirty game, still is. He refuses to accept that people continue to let the UCI/ASO/DS/Doping doctors mess with riders lives and talents. I know i would.

its a smokescreen as its the CAS verdict on Contador soon if not today?

It's the sound of the brush being taken out of the cupboard and the carpet being lifted....

Kimmage always seemed a very bitter man to me. I can understand if he felt he was wronged by riders doping during his career but that was over 20yrs ago, the man needs to let it go and have a more positive outlook.

Attempting to tread carefully here but i didn't think their reputations could be any more damaged?