UCI President Pat McQuaid has said that he doesn’t object to the decision of Floyd Landis to speak at the New Pathways for Pro Cycling conference in Geelong next week, but is not happy with what he claims is the possibility that the rider wants to create a ‘hullabaloo’.
“My only problem is with his modus operandi,” the Irishman told AP. “I am aware that there are other very high profile athletes who have also been sanctioned for major doping offences that are ... assisting authorities in the fight against doping. They choose to do it, to my mind, the correct way by working quietly without any hullabaloo.”
Landis has claimed that he wants to participate in the anti-doping conference for the right reasons, saying that he wanted solely to talk about his own personal experiences of being drawn into drug use and to suggest solutions for the future. He insisted that he does not want to discuss the claims he has made against others, including Lance Armstrong and certain individuals connected to the US Postal Service team.
“To be clear, I do not wish to use the conference as a “soapbox,” nor do I wish “hijack” the world championships,” he wrote in a statement. “I will not and cannot discuss events or circumstances related to the ongoing investigations and lawsuits involving Lance Armstrong and certain of his current and former business associates and teammates, including what I saw and heard during the relevant time periods.”
He said that his motivation now is to try to help the sport to recover, and to ensure that other riders don’t make the same mistakes in future.
McQuaid will be in Australia for the world road race championships, and hopes that the races are not overshadowed by Landis’s presence in Geelong. However he pointed out that Landis doesn’t have accreditation for the world championships, implying that he won’t be able to get too close to the action.
Deakin University, which is hosting the conference, has stressed the importance of the right to debate. It says that Landis has a valuable contribution to make and shouldn’t be pressurised not to speak. It has consequently rejected calls to uninvite him.