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Nineteen Eighty-Three

Brian Cookson, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has stated that its newly-minted Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) will look approximately fifteen years back in time, as it attempts to understand and address cycling’s modern doping dilemma.  This time frame neatly coincides with the low points of the Lance Armstrong era, but the root causes go much deeper than one man.  Fifteen years may help the UCI to pinpoint and investigate the sinister activities and possible collusion that occurred in cycling’s darkest days, but the CIRC must review about thirty years of history to truly understand and fix the corruption that has poisoned the sport, and to bring about lasting reform. The strange, totalitarian world envisioned by George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four  might seem like pure fiction, but cycling embarked upon its own “Cold War” and dystopian journey in...

Cycling in the Balance: A Talk with Michele Acquarone

(Note:  Michele Acquarone directed the Giro d’Italia for Italian sports company RCS Sport until he was unceremoniously dismissed December 3, as a result of the on-going financial investigations at RCS.  Acquarone has vigorously and consistently maintained that he had no knowledge of the financial irregularities; he hopes to stay in pro cycling, in some capacity, and have an important impact on its future.  Steve Maxwell caught up with Acquarone in mid-December and talked about new business models for cycling, and the detailed economic and structural recommendations in the Roadmap to Repair Pro Cycling report. Regardless of Acquarone’s future role in pro cycling, there is no doubt that he brings a business-like, energetic and innovative voice to the sport.) Former Giro d’Italia boss Michele Acquarone looks at cycling from a businessman’s perspective.   Unburdened by a long history in...

Synopsis: A Roadmap to Repair Pro Cycling

Professional cycling, for all its faults, is a beautiful and compelling sport to experience.  The colorful flow of riders at top speed on the open road, chasing a breakaway; the grace under pressure of a rider in solo pursuit; the explosion of joy at the finish line – these are the unforgettable images of the sport. But also unforgettable are the images of Lance Armstrong and his like-minded conspirators, cheating the sport of its dignity. Daily reminders from on-going lawsuits and new revelations only reinforce the fact that cycling is broken. However, right now pro cycling has perhaps its best and last chance to “reboot” the system.   The recently elected executives of its governing agency – the Union Cycliste International (UCI) – should seize this rare, once-in-a-generation opportunity and reinvent the sport.  How many times has cycling falsely proclaimed a “fresh start?” Empty...

Fair Treatment Through Comparative Justice

Lance Armstrong and others continue to push for a version of “truth and reconciliation,” in which major contributors to corruption in professional cycling might receive amnesty in exchange for a full confession. While such admissions and information might broaden our understanding of the doping era, automatic amnesties will only benefit a few selfish individuals at the expense of many others. However, if a real truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) is held, they might get the fairness that they’re asking for, though perhaps not exactly as they envision. We hope that the Union Cycliste International (UCI) is able to springboard from its planned independent commission on into a TRC – so that the discoveries of the independent commission cannot be co-opted by a few individuals, or be used to deliver an incomplete story of cycling’s sordid recent past. Let’s assume that the logistical...

Independent Commission vs. Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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