Director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme (Image credit: AFP)
Amaury Sport Organisation's Christian Prudhomme is looking forward to Sunday's Paris-Nice, while UCI President Pat McQuaid is considering the grim consequences to the ProTour. ASO opted not to participate in the ProTour and instead of running the event under UCI sanctioning, Paris-Nice will happen under the rules of the French federation. Although McQuaid threatened the teams, riders and the French Federation with consequences for participating in a non-UCI-sanctioned Paris-Nice, the teams voted Friday to do so anyway.
"My priority now is to give the race back to the riders and celebrate its 75th anniversary on the Mount Ventoux slopes on Thursday," said a pleased Tour de France director Prudhomme according to Eurosport.
On the other hand, McQuaid lamented the resulting state of the ProTour given recent events. "The ProTour system as it is today is completely bombed". Eurosport asked McQuaid about the UCI's plans if teams are excluded from the ProTour. "We'd start on a new system with the teams, organisers and cyclists who wish to respect the regulations of the UCI. What is at stake is the authority and the autonomy of the UCI."
RSC Sport organizer Angelo Zomegnan stood behind ASO after recent events. "We can't accept the abuse from the UCI anymore. It is not my goal to know if Pat McQuaid is unhappy with us. We are unhappy with him. The teams and riders are against McQuaid."
The teams have requested a meeting of all involved parties after the finish of Paris-Nice on March 16.
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