Whew! Iban Mayo just dodged a bullet, huh?
He was in the Basque region somewhere sweating bullets, out of his mind with stress and worry that some French judge was about to nail him for possible doping in the Tour de France five years ago. Isn’t he retired now, doing nothing, eating tapas?
Well, no worries for Iban because the French judge pulled the plug on the final hearing because the UCI refused to hand over the doping samples from Mayo, Alexander Vinokourov and Christian Moreni. The reason given was the confidentiality of these “personal medical elements.”
Rest easy, Iban. But it certainly does beg the question why the UCI, certainly no fan of Vino in particular, and supposedly 100% committed to the battle again doping, would not turn over the samples. We wish we had the rest of this story because it makes no sense.
The refusal of the UCI to help the French push forward their admittedly dated doping case comes on the same day they decided to sue whistle-blower, Floyd Landis, the Mad Mennonite. An irony of sorts.
UCI president Pat McQuaid is taking legal action for statements made by Landis on doping and in particular that the organization protected certain riders like Lance Armstrong. Landis has also accused the UCI of accepting bribes, conducting cover ups, manipulating test results and not accepting his “Jack Daniels” defense when he tested positive for testosterone in the 2006 Tour de France.
McQuaid called Landis a liar and the UCI issued a statement that read in part, “The UCI is seeking to defend the integrity of the cycling movement as a whole against the accusations of a rider who, by breaching the Anti-doping Rules, caused cycling serious harm.”
Curious, right? Apparently Mayo, Vinokourov and Moreni haven’t caused cycling any serious harm but Landis has.
The UCI is a crappy agency with double standards and personal agendas. If this doesn't reassure people that they set their own arbitrary standards and do as they please then nothing will. The critics of the UCI are right – they are power hungry and corrupt. They make Don King and boxing look good.
Jack, I remeber Don King. What a wacko but McQauid would have to do something wild with his hair. Matt