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French federation president wants Verbruggen out of cycling
Former UCI president still powerful in governing body
French cycling federation president Jean Pitallier is calling for former UCI president Hein Verbruggen to completely remove himself from the leadership of cycling’s international governing body.
Pitallier told the French sports daily L’Equipe that Verbruggen, who still holds influential positions on the ProTour council and as a UCI vice president, is largely responsible for the current crisis in professional cycling.
Verbruggen, noted Pitallier, was the driving force behind the creation of the ProTour, the top-tier race schedule that is now at the center of a major dispute between the UCI and the organizer responsible for nearly half of the series’ calendar.
ASO, organizers of the Tour de France, the upcoming Paris-Nice stage race and several influential one-day races, reached a compromise with the UCI in a dispute over how many teams must be invited to compete in its events.
ASO joined the organizers of the Giro d’Italia (RCS) and the Vuelta a España (Unipublic) in defying the UCI over the ProTour.
“We need to realize the consequences of the failure of the Pro Tour,” said Pitallier. “I am asking that Hein Verbruggen, who is behind these problems, steps down together with those around him and that he gives up his activities in cycling."
Pitallier placed the blame “directly in the hands of Hein Verbruggen” and added that he was not urging that current UCI president Pat McQuaid resign from his post.
