In what appears to be a positive step, the UCI has announced that it will get together with all the stakeholders in the sport in order to draw up a pathway forward for cycling in order to build a better future.
Its president Pat McQuaid has said that the consultation will be separate to the independent commission which is taking shape, as detailed today, and will begin early in 2013.
While that commission is concerned with detailing the errors of the past and making recommendations in order to ensure that they don't happen again, the stakeholder consultation is targeted at identifying and emphasising other measures which can help the sport grow, and which can also further cooperation between the stakeholders.
“All stakeholders will be invited to participate in this consultation exercise, which will also look at measures to continue the process of globalising the sport, encourage even wider participation and ways to make the sport even more interesting for spectators,” said McQuaid.
“We must all work together to recover from the damage which the Armstrong affair has undoubtedly done to our sport, the sport we all love and cherish. While it is absolutely right that the Independent Commission investigates the past and makes recommendations for the future around the issues of doping, our sport is about so much more than that.”
It is not clear who McQuaid is referring to when he speaks about stakeholders, but it is presumed that race organisers, teams, riders, sponsors and the general public will be amongst those who will be represented.
Depending on how the process works, it could be a very beneficial one for the sport. Cycling is often said to be disjointed, with the UCI criticised at times in the past for not listening to others, and different stakeholders said to be looking after their own interests to the exclusion of others.
If negotiations are successful, a coordinated, equitable cooperation could achieve much and also remove much of the friction which exists.
“We saw this year in the Olympic Games in London that cycling is one of the world’s most popular sports, both for participants and spectators, and it has a bright future,” said McQuaid. “This is what the consultation exercise will focus on.”
He said that the goal was to work together to build that future.
More details of the consultation are due to be announced before the end of the year, while the initiative will be launched in the first quarter of 2013.