While the UCI stated on Friday that it was suspending its legal action against him while an independent commission examines its anti-doping efforts, there are indications that Paul Kimmage may intend pressing on with the legal defence he had been building up.
Kimmage has said that he is not yet in a position to comment further, but messages on his Twitter account made clear that he is not in the frame of mind to let this fade away quietly. “How do I feel? I feel like Maximus as he prepared for battle,” he said via Twitter. “’On my signal, unleash hell.’ I hope to deliver that signal very soon."
A statement by those who are coordinating a defence fund established by the NYVelocity.com and Cyclismas.com websites furthered the notion that a counter-claim may be possible. “Our resolve in exposing the true nature of the actions by this organization [the UCI – ed.] against the entire sport has never been more firm,” they wrote. “We will continue to operate the Kimmage Fund in order to prepare not only a possible defense against unjust actions by the UCI, but to explore with Paul his legal options to take the fight to the UCI.”
Kimmage was told back in January that the UCI’s current president Pat McQuaid and former chief Hein Verbruggen intended to sue him, alleging that he had defamed them in an interview with Floyd Landis for the Sunday Times and another article in L’Equipe.
Kimmage has said that he believes the UCI has not run the sport properly, particularly in relation to the anti-doping aspect; they claim he has unjustly and inaccurately accused them of corruption.
In September he was given a summons to appear in court in Switzerland on December 12th. He was initially unsure how he would defend himself as he had been out of regular work for many months. However the aforementioned defence fund was set up and very quickly raised a substantial sum.
It received a further boost in recent days when triple Tour de France winner Greg LeMond issued an open letter criticising the UCI and asking people to contribute.
At the time of writing, the fund has been contributed to by 2829 donors, with a total of $84, 285 given thus far.