McQuaid forced to admit defeat

Pat McQuaid has lost his battle to remain as president of the international cycling union (UCI), beaten by Britain’s Brian Cookson by 24 votes to 18 at the UCI Congress in Florence.

It came after a morning of heated discussions at the Congress over whether McQuaid should even be allowed to stand after he was not nominated by the Irish federation or the one in Switzerland, where he lives.

Many felt that McQuaid had done the hardest part — which was actually getting to Florence in the first place following a string of protracted battles by his opponent to prevent him from standing as a candidate.

It was a morning of lengthy discussions and baffling regulations at the Congress, condemned as “disastrous” by Cookson afterwards, who has promised a full review of the sport’s constitution as well as to tackle head-on its ongoing problems with doping.

The election campaign has been a vitriolic one, with allegations of dirty tricks by both sides culminating in a claim that the Greek federation was offered €25,000 to vote for Cookson, who immediately denied any knowledge.

Eventually, and following several requests from 42 delegates — the Ugandan representative grabbed the microphone and called for cards on the table: “What are we waiting for... can we not have the vote, who is afraid?”

He promptly received one of the loudest cheers of the day.

The election was descending into near farce anyway, with more voting delegates taking the floor to criticise a process that threatened to drag on even further, but Cookson grew frustrated and called McQuaid’s bluff.

“All right, we’ve had enough of this,” barked the Englishman.

“I’m going to propose that we pass straight to the election,” he added, as the roof was almost lifted off the place. A hush descended for the only time in the six-hour conference and exactly 22 minutes later, the result which ended McQuaid’s bid for a third mandate was delivered.

Massive applause erupted before a triumphant Cookson intervened: “It is a huge honour to have been elected president of the UCI by my peers and I would like to thank them for the trust they have placed in me today.”

Elsewhere, McQuaid’s disciples dotted around the throng — many of his immediate family in the crowd — sank into their seats as the world’s media zoomed in.

It came as a sickening blow for the Irishman and this one will hurt him badly, for he started a project that sought to eradicate the sport of doping as well as globalising it. Now, he won’t get to finish it.

He stood up, straightened his jacket and took the microphone one last time but his only offer was a frugal: “Thank you, Brian, and congratulations to you.”

McQuaid was visibly shaken by the uppercut, but it is testament to his character that he was still in the fight at all, taking a volley of vicious jabs for the last 12 months.

But the day belonged to Cookson, who wasted no time in mapping out the future, a future that few could ever have thought possible when Lance Armstrong came clean.

“The campaign to get to this point has been intense but I am under no illusion that the real work starts now. So I call on the global cycling community to unite to help ensure our great sport realises its enormous potential. This is the vision that will drive and focus my activities over the next four years.

“My first priorities as president will be to make anti-doping procedures in cycling fully independent, sit together with key stakeholders in the sport and work with WADA to ensure a swift investigation into cycling’s doping culture.”

Turning to McQuaid, Cookson wished him “well in whatever he goes on to do”.

McQuaid said he will still stay involved in sport — he holds a key seat in the International Olympic Committee and will look to promote his message of anti-doping and globalisation there.