First reaction: Wow.
The UCI normally communicates in one of two ways. First there’s the secretive non-communication like the hush-hush tactic with Contador’s meat-gate and the general silence around how ProTeam status is determined.
Then there’s the other UCI approach which is president Pat ‘hot air” McQuaid firing off some blustery nonsense that only makes the situation worse and embarrasses the organization.
The UCI press release in response to the shocked and bitter reactions of the Pegasus Sports management and riders doesn’t fit in either of those two categories.
They flattened Pegasus with a coherent, well-argued and presented response that clearly showed the UCI had made every effort and extended every courtesy and deadline in the hopes the mythical Pegasus would pull itself together.
When the Greek horse didn’t fly and whined to the media, the UCI kept McQuaid from opening his mouth and instead found somebody who writes reasonably well to lay out the logic in compelling fashion.
This is a public horse whipping and the best advice Twisted Spoke has for Pegasus is to gratefully thank the UCI for the beating and promise to spend 2011 getting all finances in order for another try next year. Any more ugly noise out of Australian will only undermine future chances.
Favorite passage: “despite the public announcements, the management of the Pegasus Sports project proved to be rather unprofessional from the start.” That’s as close as the UCI gets to a head slap.
If only the UCI were this well organized and aggressive in protecting the biological passport. Chris White, say thank you for the red welts, find a better financial sponsor and don’t miss any deadlines next time.
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