Tour of Murcia organizer Paco Guzmán made some remarks regarding the absence of Italian teams that have been reverberating through the press. Yesterday Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, lashed out at the organizer on his comments. Guzmán responded to the UCI in an interview with Spanish paper El País. "I am tired of having to make declarations. We didn't veto the Italian teams," Guzmán is quoted.
President of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Pat McQuaid has called on Guzmán to apologize for not allowing Italian teams to participate in his event as a response to Alejandro Valverde's ban on racing in Italy.
"As it is too late for the Italian teams, I insist that you at least apologize and admit your decision was a mistake by return mail," McQuaid said yesterday in an email to the organizer according to Marca. "The ban is totally unacceptable." McQuaid has threatened to remove the race from the UCI calendar.
Guzmán explained that he could not get commitments to race from the bigger Italian teams like Lampre or Liquigas and didn't want to invite smaller teams. He then stated a fatal sentence. "In addition, with the dirty play that they do on Valverde..."
Interestingly enough Valverde will not participate in his home race. Guzmán decided that the Caisse d'Epargne team was going to be too expensive to have at the start line.