Irish cycling clubs vote against backing McQuaid for UCI Presidency

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Members of Cycling Ireland, the Irish Cycling Federation, have voted 91 to 74 against nominating Pat McQuaid as their candidate for a third term as president of the UCI, forcing him to seek nomination from Switzerland and casting serious doubts about his chances of success of continuing in the role as UCI president.

McQuaid is hoping to secure a third term as president despite the long series of doping scandals that have rocked the sport and especially the UCI's suspected compliancy and poor management of the Lance Armstrong affair.

The vote came at the end of extraordinary general meeting held in McQuaid's home city of Dublin and attended by representatives of Cycling Ireland members. An hour-long debate saw a strong defence of McQuaid's track record by those members closest to him, with letters of support apparently coming from the Danish and Caribbean federations. However the vote went against him.

The Cycling Ireland board initially voted 5-1 to back McQuaid in April but the extraordinary meeting was called after it emerged that irregularities had occurred during the initial meeting.

Pressure from Cycling Ireland members and the creation of a dossier on McQuaid's work raised questions about his suitability as a presidential candidate, with even support from Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche unable to stop Cycling Ireland members refusing to back McQuaid.

Swiss nomination

McQuaid will now try to secure the nomination he received from the Swiss Cycling Federation. He is a resident in Switzerland for his work as current UCI President and so was able to apply via that channel as a member of a Swiss cycling club. However three influential members of Swiss cycling have made an official complaint against unanimous support of McQuaid in Switzerland, with the case set to go to arbitration.

There is also a matter of validity of the Swiss Federation overruling a democratic vote of Cycling Ireland. With Britain's Brian Cookson also confirming that he will stand for president at the UCI Congress in September at the Florence world road race championships, McQuaid faces an uphill task to secure a possible third term.