McQuaid confident amidst complaints

IRELAND’S Pat McQuaid is confident that he will be president of cycling’s governing body, the UCI, before the end of the month despite the turbulence created in recent weeks by the former German Olympic athlete Sylvia Schenk.

When things got really rough last week the outgoing president Hein Verbruggen, who supports McQuaid's bid, said that he was prepared to put himself forward again.

It appears that this won't be necessary and McQuaid will become the first Irishman to take up such a position of power in world sport since Lord Killanin became President of the International Olympic Committee back in the 1970s.

He was in Cairo recently to meet with the President of the African Confederation, discussing the development of cycling on the African continent and he was in confident mood.

"Things are fairly hot and heavy at the moment but it will work out okay," he said. "The woman concerned is causing some trouble but she finishes in September. She had designs on the job herself but she did not get the required support."

It was felt that she wanted to use the position as a stepping stone on to the International Olympic Committee but, in fact, she has now lost her position as president of the German cycling federation and because of this she will leave the Board and the Management Committee after the meeting in Madrid on September 23.

She had been supporting the two candidates who will be opposing

McQuaid at that meeting Gergoria Moreno from Spain and Darshan Singh from Malaysia amidst fears that Moreno, if elected, would launch a bid to take over the UCI on behalf of the three big tours.

"He is a protest candidate supported by the three tours in their fight against the UCI," McQuaid said. "If he got elected they felt he would be able to control the UCI on their behalf."

He said he was confident despite the fact that Schenk has lodged a number of complaints about how the UCI Management Board has operated.

"I would be confident that she won't win any of them," McQuaid said. "Our lawyers are quite confident that the UCI Management Committee have done nothing wrong and as such I won't be disqualified in advance of the vote which is what she appears to want."

Once it comes to a vote it is expected to be straightforward.

McQuaid has huge support. He has been proposed by the Europeans, he has worked in Asia and the Oceania vote should also be in his favour because of the fact that they are English speakers.

The North Americans have also pledged their support.