Pat McQuaid expects ‘quick’ return to cycling's hot seat
Controversial UCI president has come under fire for Armstrong doping scandal among other things, but insists he's confident of re-election
Cycling chief Pat McQuaid insists he is confident that now he has been cleared to be a candidate he will be re-elected easily as president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) later this month.
The 64-year-old Irishman - who has been president for eight years - has faced a vitriolic assault on him since the other candidate, Englishman Brian Cookson, entered the race in early June.
McQuaid has been attacked for many things including his handling of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
However, he has fought back in a battle with Cookson - whom he once thought of as an ally having brought him into the UCI - that has become increasingly personal.
After first the Irish and then the Swiss withdrew their nominations, it was not even sure at one point if McQuaid would be able to present himself for re-election. Finally the Moroccan federation stepped in to nominate him.
The UCI executive board cleared his nomination and McQuaid, present in Buenos Aires for the International Olympic Committee Session, said he couldn't wait for the vote.
"I am confident once I get to Florence I will win it quickly," he said. "I have globalised the sport over the past eight years, taken it to Asia and South America. The presidents of the federations on those continents know me, I know them and they acknowledge what I have done.