Good article in CN today about Cooksons first 12 months in office. It doesn't make for great reading.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/has-cookson-kept-his-promises
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/has-cookson-kept-his-promises
The Cookson Chronicles - His actions as UCI president thus far
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Flying_Monkey
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No, it doesn't. And although McQuaid is completely ridiculous to try to blame the Tour of Beijing fiasco on Cookson - this was Verbruggen / McQuaid disaster from the start, was always going to end badly, and it should never have happened - Cookson has been very disappointing so far.
Cookson inherited an absolute dung heap riddled with the worms of corruption - it's going to take him a while to present something well polished, let's just hope he is afforded the time to do so.
thom
____
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- The Borough
That's kind of what I feel too. Not that constructive criticism isn't valid though.
Of course, he needs to be held accountable, and we cannot assume he will be great just because he is British (though he does have a great track record with BC). I have faith in his integrity, and believe he is going all out to do as much as he can rather than dossing out on the job. Unfortunately, we want more and we want it now, but I guess bureaucracy has slowed matters down somewhat and the reality is that things will take longer than anticipated. I am definitely prepared to cut him some slack, and would prefer that the job was done properly on an appropriate time scale rather than rushed due to media pressure. On the other hand, all of this could be completely wrong and he could just be crap, time will tell - 12 months is certainly not enough!
As if by magic...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/news-shorts-uci-agrees-to-create-global-anti-doping-tribunal
some independence and clarity on doping cases coming and some positive signs on womens' racing.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/news-shorts-uci-agrees-to-create-global-anti-doping-tribunal
some independence and clarity on doping cases coming and some positive signs on womens' racing.
Turns that first cn report on its head. Crap reporting to produce an analysis one day and then contradict it the next.
Flying_Monkey
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It's possible that the annoucements were precisely timed to stem the '1 year on' criticism... not that I'm a cynic or anything! 
I am not a Cookson fan. Look at this tweet from Cookson yesterday. OK so we don't expect him to see every little decision his staff make and some fan-boy cretin has not kept up with Lance story and the role Eddy played in bringing Ferrari and Lance together. Eddy is old school. I used to adore him. I thought his end of his career weird and always found it at great conflict with the rest of his career. Now, with more mature eyes, I view him as a con-man, like so many in the sport and his career finale exactly matches his personality. Quite happy to rob to line his own pockets. More was never enough, when there was something else on the table to steal and sending his son to Ferrari shows that he is unreformed. I know for a lot that is like calling out Tom Simpson and is a big pill to swallow, but there is no half-way house.It's possible that the annoucements were precisely timed to stem the '1 year on' criticism... not that I'm a cynic or anything!
OK so Cookson suddenly finds himself at a conference the UCI have put on to show that they are caring-sharing-loving and this is not a poisonous lake of broken contracts, deals completed under the table, with drugs everywhere. Cookson gets there and finds that a pair of old school dopers have been hired in by one of the less able in his staff. What should he do ? Well exactly like whoever handed the silver medal to Solovney the other day or to Vino in the Mal, smile politely and do the job, but don't endorse the action with any kind words and don't hang around for the photo shoot.
But what does the guy do - slips into fan-boy mode and gets a selfie done. And even as the cogs whir around in his brain and he prepares a tweet, he still can't work out what is so wrong about what he is doing. Now either he is too thick to work out that these pair are scum, in which case, he is not fit to be in office where being chief snake-catcher has to be the number one role, or he has let his own personal "fan boy" - oh it's my hero the great Eddy, swoon, man-crush, can I have a photo with him, - look where my petty politiking at an obscure local council working on regional development has got me - rubbing shoulders with my boyhood heroes - oh my - swoon - emotions take over, in which case, once again, he is entirely unsuited to the task ahead of him.
If he had any balls and a brain and really did want to tell the Juniors he cared about them, he would have stood up at the start and said. I am sorry I have had to cancel the guest speakers this afternoon. One of my staff was not aware of the full background of those individuals, as I President of the UCI am. Let me now tell you about our sport and the difficulty we all have in cleaning it up. During your career, you will probably come across many times, people who have doped in the past. Many of these individuals want you to dope so that they feel happy that they were so weak that they doped. So let me tell you how they con the innocent and turn, enthusiastic and innocent people, like many of you in front of me, and have corrupted this great sport ...............
oldroadman
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A very firmly expressed opinion. Starts out with a statement and follows up with more statements. It's good to know where people stand. In my own view a year is not nearly enough time to sort out the mess that years of mismanagement have left. If the dung heap (as quoted) is as big as alleged, then shovelling it all up and cleaning the ground will take a full term. Probably the best time to see what beneficial changes have happened is 3 years in, much closer to the end of the term. There's no doubt expectations are high and rightly so, people who stick their heads above the parapet expect to be sniped at, but at least the man is brave enough to do so, rather than hide behind bullshine and platitudes as the previous regime did for at least two long presidencies.I am not a Cookson fan. Look at this tweet from Cookson yesterday. OK so we don't expect him to see every little decision his staff make and some fan-boy cretin has not kept up with Lance story and the role Eddy played in bringing Ferrari and Lance together. Eddy is old school. I used to adore him. I thought his end of his career weird and always found it at great conflict with the rest of his career. Now, with more mature eyes, I view him as a con-man, like so many in the sport and his career finale exactly matches his personality. Quite happy to rob to line his own pockets. More was never enough, when there was something else on the table to steal and sending his son to Ferrari shows that he is unreformed. I know for a lot that is like calling out Tom Simpson and is a big pill to swallow, but there is no half-way house.
OK so Cookson suddenly finds himself at a conference the UCI have put on to show that they are caring-sharing-loving and this is not a poisonous lake of broken contracts, deals completed under the table, with drugs everywhere. Cookson gets there and finds that a pair of old school dopers have been hired in by one of the less able in his staff. What should he do ? Well exactly like whoever handed the silver medal to Solovney the other day or to Vino in the Mal, smile politely and do the job, but don't endorse the action with any kind words and don't hang around for the photo shoot.
But what does the guy do - slips into fan-boy mode and gets a selfie done. And even as the cogs whir around in his brain and he prepares a tweet, he still can't work out what is so wrong about what he is doing. Now either he is too thick to work out that these pair are scum, in which case, he is not fit to be in office where being chief snake-catcher has to be the number one role, or he has let his own personal "fan boy" - oh it's my hero the great Eddy, swoon, man-crush, can I have a photo with him, - look where my petty politiking at an obscure local council working on regional development has got me - rubbing shoulders with my boyhood heroes - oh my - swoon - emotions take over, in which case, once again, he is entirely unsuited to the task ahead of him.
If he had any balls and a brain and really did want to tell the Juniors he cared about them, he would have stood up at the start and said. I am sorry I have had to cancel the guest speakers this afternoon. One of my staff was not aware of the full background of those individuals, as I President of the UCI am. Let me now tell you about our sport and the difficulty we all have in cleaning it up. During your career, you will probably come across many times, people who have doped in the past. Many of these individuals want you to dope so that they feel happy that they were so weak that they doped. So let me tell you how they con the innocent and turn, enthusiastic and innocent people, like many of you in front of me, and have corrupted this great sport ...............
Had a bit more of a think about this one. OK so if Lance had not been exposed would Cookson have thought it ok to do a selfie with him ? How about Big Mig ? Loads of smoke about Saiz and Banesto - only a ostrich could imagine that Mig rocketed up those alpine passes faster than climbers like Millar without EPO boost. But he has never tested positive so is that "good" ? Is Big Mig next on the list to be a role model to the Juniors ?
What Cookson is saying here is - I like people who don't get caught or in Eddy's case were caught but it was dismissed as of irrelevance cos he is such a "good guy" to this star struck fanboy.
To every junior Cookson is saying - hey look kids - the moral of this tale is don't get caught and then we still love you
- cheating pays -
look this guy made a complete career on the back of stealing wins from the clean guys and even though he tested positive - I still love him. Cheat all you want, nobody gives a damn about that, just don't get caught and if you do, go quietly. A few years later you too can be feted like this.
On so many levels that tweet was so disappointing.
What Cookson is saying here is - I like people who don't get caught or in Eddy's case were caught but it was dismissed as of irrelevance cos he is such a "good guy" to this star struck fanboy.
To every junior Cookson is saying - hey look kids - the moral of this tale is don't get caught and then we still love you
- cheating pays -
look this guy made a complete career on the back of stealing wins from the clean guys and even though he tested positive - I still love him. Cheat all you want, nobody gives a damn about that, just don't get caught and if you do, go quietly. A few years later you too can be feted like this.
On so many levels that tweet was so disappointing.
Flying_Monkey
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Come on, you're in a minority of one if you don't think that Eddy M wasn't the greatest (or at least in the top 3) of all time. And no, that doesn't mean that I endorse doping. I also loved Pantani and still do. Ditto.
FM, your position is entirely illogical.
Where would Pantani be without EPO ? Certainly he would not be famous for winning cycle races, he might even still be alive right now.
You are trying to say you don't approve of dopers but you like what they can do, when they are using dope.
Quite baffling. Completely baffling
StuAff
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- Portsmouth
Merckx got caught three times by the testing regime of the time. And judged and punished for it by the standards of the time.
Greatest road cyclist of all time? Damn right.
No contradiction. If you'd seriously like to argue that any drug could have made all the difference in (say) the 1969 Tour de France win (winning margin 17 mins 54 seconds), and to explain how you would determine who (if anyone) should have been the winner under your brand of retrospective justice, given that you would be unable to obtain relevant and viable test samples without the aid of a time machine, please do.
Greatest road cyclist of all time? Damn right.
No contradiction. If you'd seriously like to argue that any drug could have made all the difference in (say) the 1969 Tour de France win (winning margin 17 mins 54 seconds), and to explain how you would determine who (if anyone) should have been the winner under your brand of retrospective justice, given that you would be unable to obtain relevant and viable test samples without the aid of a time machine, please do.
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Flying_Monkey
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So you really don't do complexity? You can't hold two contradictory ideas in your head at once and appreciate the truth to both of them?
I don't approve of doping in sport, the whole stupid, destructive circus that produces it, and the lives it destroys, but I can appreciate the style, talent and sacrifices of sportspeople, yes, even those who dope.
And Pantani was an amazing talent and would have been with or without the EPO - you've read Matt Rendel's book at the very least, I would hope.
