Traditionally the transfer period of all sports is an exciting one (we can’t help but get involved with the fun gossip), whether it is cycling, Formula 1 or Football.  This cycling transfer merry-go-round takes on a different feeling for me that has left me unsure of what to think.

On the Sunday morning of the final stage for Le Tour de France, I was having a chat over a coffee with Joao Correira of the Cervélo Test Team.  We were chatting about many things, like business in cycling, bikes, great places to ride and a little bit about doping.  Now Joao isn’t a part of the Bike Pure community, so some of you may not be familiar with Joao’s story. Joao was a professional bike rider in the late ‘90s but stepped away from the bike to finish college, to come back after a few years to make it as a pro-rider for Cervélo Test Team.  During my conversation with Joao, he told me that it was easier to step away from professional cycling when he did because of the doping culture at the time and that he came back because it was cleaner and which helped rekindled his desire to race bikes professionally again.

So what has this got to do with Bike Pure?  Joao isn’t a Bike Pure rider and this isn’t a doping story.  Well, first of all I personally think it is important to support anyone who encourages clean racing, whether the have signed up for Bike Pure or not.  The likes of Joao, Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins all want a clean sport and deserve our support no matter how they chose to vocalise it… besides it is because I have had more personal contact with Joao that has brought me to write this article, because it has given me a different perspective on anti-doping.

In the last week there’s been talk of the Schumacher, Rasmussen and Ricco being linked (or confirmed as a signing) with top teams.  That’s a call for each individual team, as it stands these guys have served their time and the rules allow these guys to race.  It is a up to teams to chose whether they want the extra baggage or not.  What hit me this morning is that these guys are being linked with various teams and taking away press time from good riders who haven’t cheated the sport.  When riders are mentioned in the press, irrespective of the context of their past, a message is being sent out that they are better cyclists than others available out there.  A team who first hadn’t considered signing Schumacher may now see that story and think “if such and such is considering signing him, perhaps he’s worth gamble of negative stories.”  I am one of the biggest supporters of rehabilitation and believe in giving people a 2nd chance, however I feel conflicted that Ricco has been signed for a team when people like Joao, Ted King and Bike Pure’s Daniel Lloyd are facing an uncertain period which will no doubt be stressful.

Does it make me a bit of a hypocrite that I would rather have riders I support find a team before those who I feel offended by?  There are a multitude of views and beliefs amongst the Bike Pure community and I would love to hear (tweet me @s2_art) how other people feel about the press that returning cheats get in comparison to existing fair cyclists who are good ambassadors for the sport.  How do you feel about team’s taking a chance on the likes of Schumacher over someone like Ted King?  No matter what we all think and feel, I’m sure you won’t mind me speaking on your behalf in wishing that everyone involved with Cervélo find a quick solution that they are happy with.  They’ve been a joy to watch racing over the last couple of years.

Stuart MacLean – Bike Pure UK Ambassador

Bio Racer produced only two copies of the jersey, complete with World Championship bands on the sleeves and Greg Lemond’s name on the reverse. Bike Pure presented one set of the clothing to Lemond when they met in July and we are giving you the chance to get hold of the only remaining signed jersey.

Lemond is a cycling legend, with three Tour de France titles and a World Championship victory to his name throughout a prestigious career. Lemond is an avid anti-doping campaigner and a strong supporter of the Bike Pure organization. Bike Pure’s Myles McCorry said, “Bike Pure are very excited to have such a rare cycling jersey up for grabs and money raised will go to a worthwhile cause.”

“We are honored to have Greg Lemond’s support as we effectively have shared principles in our outlook on anti-doping. We applaud Greg’s honesty and virtue toward a more secure future for out sport.” McCorry added.

Speaking to Bike Pure this week, Greg lemond added, “I am proud to partner with Bike Pure and believe in their strong code of ethics. I hope that more cycling sponsors adopt Bike Pure’s important commitment to protecting the lives and integrity of our sport.”

Onimpex, Bio Racer’s UK distributor produce the Bike Pure range of clothing and also endorse Bike Pure’s philosophy, “Bioracer produces clothing for some of the greatest riders in the peloton but it is a huge pleasure and an honour to produce this special jersey for Greg Lemond, on of the legends of the Tour de France.”

“Like Bioracer and Bike Pure, Greg’s commitment to racing to win but racing clean is known throughout the world and this unique jersey is the perfect symbol of commitment to honest athleticism. “

The jersey is up for charity auction on Ebay and will end at 21:09 (GMT) on Sunday 29th August 2010, it can also be shipped worldwide.
Please view it here.
You can visit Greg Lemond’s website here

Marianne’s 2nd place today in the Grand Prix Plouay, France, was enough for her to retain her World Cup lead, repeating her victory of 2009. Emma Pooley (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam won the race for the second successive year with a fine solo victory, breaking away from 4 other riders, which included Vos, in the closing stages.

Vos still had to place well and started the sprint from a long way out to clinch second on the day and was pleased to take the victory on what was a tough day for the Dutch rider. Vos is also the current World Cup Cyclo-Cross Champion and this shows the versatility and talent she has at her disposal, a sincere role model to all athletes worldwide.

Fellow Bike Pure supporter, Kirsten Wild (Cérvelo) finished 3rd overall in the World Cup to make it a great day all round.

Result GP Plouay
1. Emma Pooley (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @ 1’14”
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) RedSun Cycling Team
4. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Columbia
5. Evelyn Stevens (USA) HTC-Columbia @ 2’35”

Final World Cup standings
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit 270pts
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) RedSun Cycling 209
3. Kirsten Wild (Ned) Cervélo TestTeam 202
4. Charlotte Becker (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam 182
5. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Columbia 161

Their route entails a 363 mile trip across the width of the UK, beginning in Pembroke, Wales and finishing on the East coast of England in Great Yarmouth. As many will have seen on his Twitter feed, Harmon has been fitting in training rides in between commentary this year to aid his preparation for this, the first of several record attempts.

As with all record attempts, planning and preparation are key to a successful ride. Their target time will be around 17 hours and they have an accomplished back up team via the online retailer Wiggle who have given full support to David and Jez. Team Wiggle Tandem teamed up with Bike Pure some months ago and will sport our headset spacers and wristbands for the record attempt.

We wish the guys all the best on their attempt on board their ‘Rocket 1′ machine which begins at 4am (GMT) Saturday 21st August. Please check out the route and if you can get to see the guys, they’d sure appreciate the support.
A full schedule and route can be obtained by clicking the link below.

Full route details and information are available here.

You can also follow Team Wiggle Tandem and David Harmon on Twitter.

We would not have been able to produce the new range without the help of the sponsors whose names adorn the sleeves of each design, namely SKINS, Aspire Velotech and Defeet.

Each company involved have one thing in common – a combined commitment and dedication to anti-doping and a shared value in the future of cycle sport, sending a positive message across the sport.

SKINS, who sponsor the ‘Bike Pure Riders’ t-shirt are the world’s leading compression clothing company, has a long established alignment with integrity in sport, “The principles, values and message of Bike Pure and the aspiration of clean cyclesport are shared by SKINS in its mantra celebrating the true spirit of fierce competition”, said Benjamin Fitzmaurice, Sports Director of SKINS Cycling. Fitzmaurice continued, “The riders that share those principles ought to be lauded and congratulated. The t-shirt promoted by Bike Pure and SKINS celebrates the stance taken by professional cyclists against cheating in sport.”

Michael Golding, President of Aspire Velotech and long established supporters of our organisation also expressed their support for the Bike Pure, “Integrity is a value we respect and believe in.  It is our honor to sponsor Bike Pure and its mission.” Aspire Velotech sponsor the ‘Bike Pure logo’ t-shirt.

Our 100% CLEAN t-shirt, currently the most popular, is supported by Defeet. Shane Cooper, President and founder of the leading sock company sent us this message, “As founder and President of a company that manufactures and markets products for cyclists, I have watched with much sadness the hardships the sport of bicycle racing has faced over the last decade. Through that time, DeFeet has sponsored many professional and amateur racing programs. We do our best to align our company with those that are making concerted efforts for transparent, clean sport.”

“We support the quest for truth and admire Greg LeMond for his stance against the so-called “code of silence” in professional racing. Every company in the cycling industry wants to benefit from the growth of our sport. That growth can’t come at the expense of future generations having to compete under corrupt organizers, drug aided opposition, or teams and doctors who administer to them. When a system is broken it needs fixing. Our entire industry needs to be brave enough to acknowledge truth, do the right things, and rebuild stronger. For these reasons, DeFeet doesn’t just say we support Bike Pure in “me too” fashion. Any “code of silence” needs to be put to rest. The beautiful sport of cycling deserves better. We actively support Bike Pure.”

We wish to thank everyone who has already purchased a t-shirt to show their support for us.
T-shirts are available here with FREE shipping worldwide and a free wristband and headset spacer included, priced at only £13 (approx $20USD and €15).

This is a personal account of exactly what happened to me when I was a professional bike rider and the conclusion I have come to is that I now realise there is no need to “do drugs” or do any other abnormal thing to your body to compete at the highest level in this sport. My forte in cycling was stage racing, so I think I have credibility in what I am saying about races such as the Tour de France and can speak from my personal experience. I realise I could have ridden the Tour de France and competed in that race at the highest level and done it cleanly! What I hope to do is explode the “myth” that you have to take doping products in order to take part in these events. I want to give hope to young riders who are coming into the sport that they have no need to look towards any form of “cheating” to fulfil their dreams.

I rode for the TI Raleigh Professional team in the early/ mid 1970′s and I was a “wet behind the ears” naïve young rider who had only been riding a bike for 3 years before I turned Pro. It was a steep learning curve for me. I had a lot of success as an amateur, especially in stage races. I had finished 7th in my first ever stage race, The Milk Race, and had won the GP William Tell (the amateur Tour of Switzerland) in the same year. Both these were two week stage races and I came out of them both with fantastic form. After the Milk Race , for example, I had gone over to the Isle of Man the very next day and ridden the Mountain Time Trial, where I broke the record and got up 2 hours later to ride the Willaston Handicap and from the scratch group, I got through the field with Phil Bayton to catch and drop everyone except for the guy who won the race and I finished a shattered 3rd! At the William Tell GP, I was the only rider in the race who worked full time and it was the pre-Olympic stage race with all the main countries  taking part and I beat them all. So, when I say stage racing was my forte, you can see what I mean. The fact that I just seemed to get stronger as the race went on was also a really good sign for my future as a stage race rider.

When I joined TI Raleigh, I soon found out what most of the riders were doping and it was a big shock to me. It was, however, just what everyone “did” as a professional and there was no stigma attached to it at that time. In those days the emphasis was on Amphetamines, Ephydrine, Anabolic Steroids, Blood Doping (a la Lasse Viren) and other cocktails. I didn’t even wish to find out about these products as I had no interest in becoming involved in this illegal and more importantly, dangerous, activity. I may have been naïve, but I knew I wanted to race cleanly and if I did anything in the races, I wanted to be proud of my achievements and taking dope would have taken that away from me.

I saw a lot of things that would make your hair curl. I once saw a second string Belgium Kermesse team getting changed in the same house as me before a Kermesse and they were handing out an ampoule of “something” all using the same syringe and the same needle and passing it from one to the other. I was horrified. Plus they were all out of the back on about the third lap! I was seeing and hearing things in my own team which were disquieting and I knew the guys who were most “at fault”. The problem was, in those days, we didn’t have doctors looking after us, just Soigneurs, who thought if a little did you a little good, a lot would do you a lot of good. They had no idea what they were doing and as long as the rider got the results they didn’t care less!

Riders were dying “suspiciously” in their sleep, or just dropping dead. We had one inexplicable fatality whilst I was in the team and another four guys have died from the same team since those days. Now, I can’t prove any of these deaths were drug related, but you only have to draw your own conclusions.

I soon realised I was going to have to train a lot harder than I ever had as an amateur, and if I wanted to beat these guys who were juicing up, I would have to train even harder. I simply wasn’t going to succumb to the doping and I was going to do it free of drugs, or just fail. I began to see how much harder these Pros trained than I ever had as an amateur. I remember going to ride a Belgium Kermesse in the Spring of 1975 in preparation for Paris Roubaix. Roger de Vlaeminck was there and he actually won the race in the pouring rain. I was in the second group and finished about 7th or 8th. A good days work out, I thought and got changed and drove back home with my wife Chris.

We lived about 10 k’s from de Vlaeminck and on the way home (about 100k’s) we saw de Vlaeminck riding home all kitted up with cape etc. After we had arrived home and had something to eat, I decided to go for a haircut at the local barbers. As I came out of the barbers a motorbike went through our small village with a rider on the back wheel, absolutely “nailing” it…It was de Vlaeminck! This was his prep for the Paris Roubaix, which he duly went on to win. I strolled back to our little house and had a long talk with Chris and told her I was going to have to completely rethink my training and practically double what I had been doing and a LOT of quality too. This is when I learn’t more about training than ever before and how important “rest” was going to be in the equation. I talked it over with Eddie (Soens… my coach) and we formulated a much heavier training structure with a lot more Kermesses and intervals and speed work, including plenty of rest. I immediately put this into action and the results began to come very quickly.

My main aim for that year was the Tour of Switzerland. This was the biggest “Tour” on my calendar for that year and was to be replaced by the Tour de France in the following year. I was the same size as Hennie Kuiper, and Post wanted me to be his right hand man in the 1976 Tour. So I prepared like a maniac for the Tour de Suisse, and was excited about my prospects as I had won the amateur version of the race in 1972. Now this is where I have been leading, and this is where I proved to myself and others in the team that you can race and do well without doping!

I was riding like 10 men in the Tour and was up there in the mountains every day, climbing with Merckx, de Vlaeminck and Pfenninger. On the hardest day of all, I was in the break and feeling great. There were about seven riders in the front group and this was the “break of the race”. Unfortunately, Didi Thurau (Peter Post, our Director Sportif’s “blue eyed boy”) was having a really bad day and was 3 minutes off the pace on the last climb. Peter Post came up to the break and told me to wait for him!! I told him that (my team mate) Bert Pronk was in the break and below me on the GC, so he should wait and not me… Well, I was told in no uncertain terms that I waited, or went home the next day. I waited by the side of the road for 3 minutes. The longest, unhappiest 3 minutes of my cycling life. It was there I lost a 4th overall place in the race. I gave Thurau one of the hardest times in HIS cycling career all the way to the finish as he was completely shot and couldn’t hold my wheel. I did, however, make amends in the final time trial, where I was the fastest over the second half of the 45 kilometre test and got 4th place behind de Vlaeminck, Merckx and Pfenniger. So I would have got that 4th overall instead of the 11th place I finally ended up with.

This is when I realised I COULD do this, and ride and compete in the Tour de France, without dope. Even though one of my team mates had said I would never get through the Tour de France without doping and a three week tour was very different to a two week tour. On reflection, and as I say after a lot of thought, this was just garbage. I came out of that Tour de Suisse absolutely “FLYING”. I went straight to Harrogate after the Tour and won every Time Trial of the Harrogate festival. I got away in the Pro National Champs in the same week, got brought back, went away again, towed every break back and got worked over by every team and still got 4th place. We were staying with Chris’s parents this week and I was training again for the Paris Tours. After coming back from Harrogate, in the same week, I went out to Wales one day for a 7 1/2 hour ride in the hills. Bill, (Chris’s Dad) then asked me to ride their club 25 mile TT that evening as the “lads would like to see me!” I was reluctant , as I was really tired after my epic training ride, but I succumbed to Bill’s wishes, rode out to the 25 on my training wheels. I rode the event and did a short 52 minute on the Chester- Whichurch (SLOW) road. I think the record was about a long 55. I didn’t even feel my legs I was going so well. That is the reason I know I could have been good in the third week of the Tour de France and been up with the leaders without doping. I believed then, and still believe today that most riders take dope “just in case” or “because everyone else is on it”. They use it as a crutch, when really they could do just as well without it.

So there you have it, I am absolutely convinced now that I could have competed at the highest level as a pro and done it “clean”. As I also said, this is not to show how great Dave Lloyd is, or was. There were many bike riders as good or even better than me at the time who were juicing up. They could also have done it without dope. So there IS hope for the future and the younger generation of bike riders seem to be taking the anti-doping message seriously and rebelling against it now, and the “old guard” are getting caught more easily and leaving the ranks, thank goodness. In any case I am optimistic and eventually think doping will be regarded as a curse in cycling and in time we will have a dope free peloton. Can’t come too soon for me!!

One bright spark on the horizon is my recent introduction to “Bike Pure”… I have to admit, I hadn’t heard much about this organisation until a friend brought my attention to it.. I have been wearing my “Cycling Weekly” I SUPPORT DRUG FREE SPORT wristband for a long time now, but the campaign seems to have become stagnant. I wanted to get involved with something more pro-active and positive. Therefore I have aligned myself with “Bike Pure” and will hopefully become one of their ambassadors and help them in the ongoing (it will NEVER stop) battle to eradicate drugs from the most fantastic sport in the world…. CYCLING !! I really believe the guys behind this are 100% for our Sport and I just hope I can be a part of the fight to rid our Sport of this Cancer.

Dave Lloyd 16.08.10

Dave Lloyd is a fully qualified British Cycling Coach. To find out more about Dave Lloyd please visit his coaching website here.

Settling in at Road Worlds
After a 17 hour journey from Manchester via Munich, Montreal and Mont Joli I arrived in Baie Comeau which sits on the northern banks of the St Lawerence river some 420 miles north east of Montreal.

Despite the length of the journey I was still only 5 hours behind UK time and the place so remote the UK mobile phone service providers don’t have a partner over here, so we have no phone signal. Mind you, that could be a good thing and quite a welcome break from the one item that has become an extension of most people’s arms!

The final leg of the journey from Mont Joli was across the St Lawerence river and took just nine minutes! I was in a 48 seater propeller plane which was virtually skimming the water at just 5000 feet up! It was an amazing sight to be so close to the world below and as we crossed onto land it dawned on me just how remote we are here.

Having honeymooned in western Canada I have fond memories of the remote regions of the country and with beautiful scenery in between the small towns, it really is a stunning place to be.

After a short transfer into the town, to join the rest of the team who had arrived a few hours earlier, I was ready to collapse and sleep right through to breakfast and get myself on the right time zone. I’ve never suffered with jet lag and after such a long day of travelling there was no chance of me not sleeping the first night!

First job after breakfast was a course recce and in unusually warm conditions for our location, I set out with my team mates to check out the course. Although confusingly there were four or five different versions of the course, depending on when you last checked out the UCI website! We rode what we thought was every option but then got back to the hotel to find out there was yet another version online!

In essence the 11.5km course is very straightforward with nothing more technical than one ninety degree right-hander immediately before the main climb on every lap and one sweeping left-hander about 2km after the start. It’s also an interesting course to ride, so given there are lots of roadworks elsewhere in the town, it’s no issue to lap the course for training each day.

In answer to my racing prayers the course goes straight up hill from the start, it levels off, turns left and then kicks up again. After dropping slightly, bearing right the road then sweeps round the left-hander before dropping through what is currently a no entry sign and currently being well guarded by the local police, so no sneaking through! After a short flat section the road kicks up to the ninety degree right turn and then gradually rises to the start of the main climb. This climb is in two parts, flattens just after half way and then kicks up again over the top. It’s a decent gradient and putting out around 400 watts gives me about 17 kph. It’s about 1.5km long and after going over the top the road drops all the way to a sweeping right-hander after which the road drops again all the way towards the river before flattening out and running alongside the river for a kilometre or so. By this point we’re about 1.5-2km to the finish and after going over some tram lines the road rises gradually before kicking up and passing under the bridge over which we had started the main climb. From the top of the last kick up it’s about 600 metres to the finish and all down hill or flat.

My Road Time Trial is on Thursday and I’ll be riding two laps of the course, so pacing will be key to make sure the climb doesn’t bite back in the second lap! Then on Saturday it’s a short Road Race, just 5 laps of the course but with all the rises in the road it’s a much tougher than any other course I’ve ridden at a Paracycling World Championships.

Since arriving the weather has been at both end of the spectrum, 27 degrees and clear skies yesterday then 15 degrees and torrential rain today. Given our location, the locals say the weather can change hourly so we’ve got to be ready for anything, including snow!

It should be an interesting four days of racing and I’m raring to get going!
Sarah x

Please visit the Horizon Fitness Racing Team website here:

I am a big cycling fan. I guess that’s why I keep in touch with pro riders on Twitter and Facebook. That is how I first got in touch with some really cool guys. This continued and suddenly I had arranged to meet some of the riders prior to the start of the stage.

First I was at the start in my hometown, where I got to talk to a few people, but everyone was busy and a little behind schedule, but when I got to the finish, people were more relaxed and happy to talk, even though many of them were still busy with the media, fans and sponsors. But although everyone was a little busy, I found some people to talk to about Bike Pure.

It became evident to me that Bike Pure needs more attention. Making our role models wear Bike Pure bracelets might not be enough but it shows a good anti-doping stance. When I spoke to Bjarne Riis, owner of Team Saxo Bank, he did not know what Bike Pure was, even though he had two Bike Pure riders with him in the Tour of Denmark. But when I told him what Bike Pure is, and what his riders have signed up for, he was very proud, and as he said; “All my riders are role models, and I expect all of them to be clean”.

But I am pretty sure that the only ones who can make the team owners and staff aware that Bike Pure is part of their team, is the role models themselves. Let’s say that another one of Bjarnes riders’ signs up as a role model, he needs to say something like; “Hey Bjarne, I just wanted to let you know, that I signed up as a Bike Pure rider, and therefore I’m a role model for other young riders”, and then Bjarne pats him on the shoulder and say “that sounds great”. Of course this is just a wish, but I do not know of any other way to let team staff aware of Bike Pure.

I also spoke to Jesper Mørkøv, younger brother of Bike Pure rider Michael Mørkøv, and I asked him about how his brother’s involvement with Bike Pure as role model. There was no doubt; Michael is doing his job as a role model to the best. Jesper has always looked up to him, and it is very important for Michael to be a role model for his younger brother. I will go as far as to tell you that Jesper is considering stepping in his brother’s footsteps as a Bike Pure rider, when he turns pro.

This shows us that the role models are trying to spread the news, encouraging fellow riders that doping shouldn’t be an option. When I talked to Jesper, he was very clear about how much influence Michael has had on his thoughts about staying clean, when he turns pro. Something that made me really happy was when he told me about how important it is to Michael to send the message that he is clean and how he wants to be a role model, not just for his younger brothers, but to his fans as well.

A Ride with Garmin-Transitions
I not only met with several riders in Denmark, I also made plans through Bike Pure and Garmin-Transitions that I could ride with them in their team car. Before the start I was invited into the team bus so I could be introduced to all the riders, and they all wanted to shake my hand and say hello. Here I got to talk a little with current Australian road race champion Travis Meyer. Travis was wearing his Bike Pure wristband – and you could easily feel how proud he was to talk about it.

Spending the day with Garmin-Transitions also showed me the respect there is for the Bike Pure riders. The time where I really noticed it, was when I was talking to Travis about Bike Pure, and from my eye I could see some guys listening and radiating interest for the subject.  This just confirmed the feeling I already had before the race – that Garmin-Transitions is a team, who wants a clean sport for their riders, and they want them to be role models – just like Bjarne Riis felt about his riders.

Thank you to everyone who made my day at the Tour of Denmark special, especially to Garmin-Transitions and all the riders who helped me out.

Christina Hansen is on Twitter

This would normally be great news.  Cycling can only grow with new people finding out about the sport, it is effectively widening it’s catchment net and this is one of the key goals of our governing body the UCI.  What Gavia was specifically referring to however was the story of five professional riders who were flagged for doping in December but have not yet been sanctioned by the UCI.

In modern business, pretty much everyone from management level upwards are educated in the importance of perception.  With the increased media attention being sought by the UCI to promote the sport there is going to be closer scrutiny on their actions, after all they are the figureheads for everyone involved in the sport.  In an article which WADA has admitted an oversight of its drug testing professional cycling and detailed what it will be doing to correct this oversight, Pat McQuaid contested that there is a lack of effort to catch drug cheats.  This may be the case (though I don’t think those involved in women’s cycling would agree) however a straight out dismissal without backing it up with facts doesn’t help change the perception of the sport, especially when followed up by admitting five riders the panel recommended for sanctions have not been identified or punished.

Recently I was talking to a bodybuilder about different sports and his response about cycling was “it’s a dirty sport”.  Now when a body builder perceives cycling to be dirty, then clearly there is still quite a bit of PR which needs to be done.  He wasn’t just talking about doping, but also corruption and highlighted the case of Lance Armstrong’s donation to the UCI and the missing receipt.  I do believe that it is available for any journalist to view in Aigle, Switzerland.

I have strong opinions on the UCI and Pat McQuaid, which I won’t subject you lovely people with.  I do, however, want to challenge the lack of professionalism by those governing this sport, like it or not but the world has changed and cycling must change a long with it.  Sponsors invest more money, media is more demanding and accessible, cheating is more sophisticated, bikes more expensive and an ever evolving society.  What may have worked in the 60s or 80s does not work in 2010 and a good step in the right direction would be for the UCI to be more receptive to feedback as well as having greater transparency with their finances, plans and activities.  Show the fans, sponsors and media just why this is a beautiful sport that is worth investing in.  This is common practice in modern business and while cycling is a sport, it is still big business that relies on investment.

Cycling is slowly becoming more mainstream news and while most of this is focussed around the Landis accusations, this can also be used positively.  Rather than dismissing the media and appearing dismissive and arrogant, use the attention positively to show cycling as a modern, progressive and accessible sport with integrity.  You never know, perhaps one day Gavia will be reading the WSJ for her daily race reports.

I’d love to get what your perception on this article, so you can tweet me on Twitter (s2_art)

Stuart MacLean – Bike Pure UK Ambassador

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