UCI, ASO battle

[I Want Sachs?]

I am sorry to be dense, but can someone explain to me what is really going on with the situation? I am so confused by ProTour, ASO, UCI, **** Pounds etc. I don't have a good understanding of the racing scene, so this is not a rhetorical question.

From what I understand, UCI is union of pro cyclist, who wants to boycott Paris Nice because of ProTour issues. (What are the issues and why?) ASO is organization that runs Paris-Nice as well as Tour de France, so boycott now means no invitation to the race in July. Is that it? How does doping investigation etc come into all of this?

Thanks.

[coylifut]

ASO wants to control and pick the teams that race their events. the uci, via the pro tour, wants to impose that all pro tour teams race these top level events with wildcards handed out by the promoter. off course the whole thing is about $.

I am sorry to be dense, but can someone explain to me what is really going on with the situation? I am so confused by ProTour, ASO, UCI, **** Pounds etc. I don't have a good understanding of the racing scene, so this is not a rhetorical question.

From what I understand, UCI is union of pro cyclist, who wants to boycott Paris Nice because of ProTour issues. (What are the issues and why?) ASO is organization that runs Paris-Nice as well as Tour de France, so boycott now means no invitation to the race in July. Is that it? How does doping investigation etc come into all of this?

Thanks.

[jhcakilmer]

I'm glad the UCI is really taking a stand (or so it seems), it's about time. They seem to pussy-foot around, and bark with no bite, but I hope they can take the control back. ASO is way out of bounds, the UCI is the governing body of cycling, and should be the final word.

ASO is on a power trip, that hopefully will end soon!

[AgilisMerlin]

http://www.velonews.com/article/73030/french-federation-chief-says-hell-go-to-court-if

[I Want Sachs?]

What is the signing contract business? Why would UCI object to riders signing agreement to ride this one race?

Also, who owns the ProTour, and who is invited to ProTour races?

How does all the doping test come into play?

[Hardlyrob]

That's the problem. As I understand it UCI has the 17 teams that are part of the pro tour, but UCI doesn't own any of the races. Groups like ASO and others actually own the races (Paris / Nice, LeTour, Giro, Vuelta and other big races), and are telling UCI that they will run them their way, not via UCI's rules and restrictions.

It is all about money and control, like most court cases.

FWIW

Rob

[Elefantino]

The ASO reminds me of Tony George just before he wrecked open-wheel racing by taking his Indy 500 and playing on his own ...

It boils down to a simple question: What is bigger, cycling or the Tour de France?

Place your bets.

[1centaur]

The problem is the disunity between the UCI and the teams. Can you imagine is the Red Sox had to choose between playing exhibitions for big money many times a year or playing a determined MLB schedule? Assuming the UCI won't be buying out ASO, the events are the attraction and the teams want to be there. Why have the UCI at all? Only if the teams used the UCI structure to uniformly boycott the ASO events would ASO be weakened, and given an athlete's short lifetime window (perhaps a sponsor's too) of peak performance that does not sound realistic.

The UCI is a bureaucratic structure that serves the functional needs of individual fiefdoms that want to race in ASO venues. If the UCI oversteps its bounds and prevents the fiefdoms from doing what they want, it will have to be replaced or modified until it serves the function again.