As Bradley Wiggins made his way around the Olympic velodrome in London on Sunday, he was pushing cycling forward in terms of raising the bar of the historic UCI Hour Record, but ghosts of the sport’s past were looming large.
Johan Bruyneel, the banned director who guided Lance Armstrong to all seven of his Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005, was enjoying the action trackside. Laughing and sipping wine with him was Pat McQuaid the ex-president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) who oversaw that most ugly of chapters in cycling’s history.
Photos emerged of the two and for some it was a difficult image to stomach, souring an otherwise momentous occasion.
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Bruyneel was handed a 10-year ban from sport last year by the American Arbitration Association, which found he was “at the apex of a conspiracy to commit widespread doping on the USPS and Discovery Channel teams spanning many years and many riders.”
That Bruyneel was able to enjoy VIP privileges at a UCI-associated event may not sit comfortably but there was nothing to stop him being there. His ban only applies to involvement in direct the competitive side of sport and he is free to attend sporting events as a spectator. Speaking to Cyclingnews, Bruyneel argued that he bought his own ticket and had every right to attend.
“I bought the tickets myself,” he said. “It was £200 a ticket and I paid £1000 to go with my four friends who I invited. So I don’t really see what’s wrong with that. As far as I know I can attend a sporting event. If I buy a ticket for a Chelsea game I’m going to go to the game. It’s as simple as that.
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