January 15/13 19:26 pm - Dick Pound Suggests Cycling in Olympic Trouble - Hold On a Minute

Posted by Editor on 01/15/13
 

The Twitterverse is all a-flutter with comments from IOC member Dick Pound that cycling could be booted from the Olympics over the ongoing Lance Armstrong saga.  Pound suggests that if Armstrong implicates the UCI in a doping cover up that the International Olympic Committee could remove cycling.

Okay, let's be rational here folks:

1. This is one IOC member and not an official IOC position.

2. This is an IOC member who has been in a decade-long pissing match with Lance Armstrong, Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid (the latter two the past and present UCI Presidents).

3. Cycling was one of the highest rated sports of the 2012 Olympics, and the IOC watches TV ratings more closely than anything else, since their billion dollar network deals depend on them.

4. The next Summer Olympics are in South America, where cycling is a big sport.

5. How well would this sit with countries like Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, etc. that have a huge investment in cycling?

If it turns out that Armstrong does name some UCI officials, then there will certainly be an investigation, and we will likely see a few heads roll.  But to remove a sport that counts for 18 medals in four disciplines, had some of the strongest TV numbers at the past Games and has one of the few sports attracting a younger audience (BMX).....

Let's dial back the hysteria, folks.