With the election of a reformer as the new president, the International Cycling Union is ready to put the Armstrong scandal behind it and re-establish this great sport

This is great news! From the Telegraph:

Cycling finally began the process of “healing the wounds” of the Lance Armstrong era on Friday as Brian Cookson’s extraordinary gamble paid off when he toppled Pat McQuaid as the most powerful man in the sport. 

Cookson was elected president of the International Cycling Union at the end of a torturous day of both high drama and high farce that exposed the governing body to ridicule and demonstrated how desperately change was needed at the top. 

Amid chaotic scenes at the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, British Cycling president Cookson beat his bitter rival 24 votes to 18 in an election that for so long threatened not to take place. That is because McQuaid – whose reputation has nosedived since Armstrong was exposed as one of sports worst ever dope cheats – arrived at the UCI Congress with serious doubt having been cast on his eligibility to stand for re-election after he failed to secure a nomination from his home federation. 

With the UCI having refused to allow the matter to be independently adjudicated upon, the meeting was reduced to interminable wrangling over whether a vote should be taken to determine the validity of McQuaid’s candidacy – even though the item was not on the agenda. 

The Irishman, who was chairing proceedings, eventually lost complete control of the floor after two UCI-funded lawyers spent an age trying to convince delegates he could stand.
Cookson then staged the most dramatic intervention imaginable, marching to the podium and declaring in presidential fashion: “We’ve had enough of this. I’m going to propose we go straight to the vote between the two candidates.” Whether it had a decisive impact on the outcome is impossible to tell but delegates who had earlier voted 21-21 on a side issue relating to the election suddenly came down on his side.

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