# Hosking calls UCI president “a dick”



## wibly wobly (Apr 23, 2009)

Someone should have given her a medal, or at least I hope someone did something behind the scenes to say thanks bringing more attention to this. 


_Following her win, the Australian sprinter’s feelings got away from her, when she called the president of the UCI, Pat McQuaid, “a dick.”

The insult was in response to McQuaid’s comment at the world road championships in Copenhagen regarding the heated issue of professional women’s salaries. The president’s suggestion that women did not deserve a minimum salary sparked outrage among the women’s professional peloton.

Hosking’s response to questions from the Sydney Morning Herald about McQuaid’s remarks was, “What can be said? Pat McQuaid’s a dick. To say at the biggest sporting event of women’s cycling that we’re not progressed enough to have a minimum salary, I mean, how do we progress if we all still have to work and we can’t support ourselves?”

Hosking has since apologized for her wording, though stands by her statement. She is planning an official apology with her team director, Kristy Scrymgeour, but in the meantime Hosking has said, “I’m not going to apologize for what I said, but I do apologize for how I phrased it.”

She hopes some good has ultimately come of the situation, and that her bold comment has brought attention to the subject. “This has got the world talking about women’s cycling, hasn’t it?” _

Hosking's mea culpa to UCI boss: I meant what I said, not how I said it
Must Read: Hosking calls UCI president “a dick”


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

I think she echoes the sentiments of almost everybody...


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## jlandry (Jan 12, 2007)

Good on her for telling it like it is. Like someone else said: " Ovaries are the new balls."


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## Trek2.3 (Sep 13, 2009)

I'd have said he was a "Prick." He is (whether or not he has ... .)


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## orbit (Feb 7, 2007)

Here's a very interesting and informative interview with Bridie O'Donnell, an Australian pro rider based in Italy. She speaks very rationally on the difficulties facing women on the pro circuit. And she also explains the Womens Road World Race in Copenhagen (criticised as being boring) from the point of view of the peleton - interesting stuff.

Videos : Play : Cycling Central on SBS


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

orbit said:


> Here's a very interesting and informative interview with Bridie O'Donnell, an Australian pro rider based in Italy. She speaks very rationally on the difficulties facing women on the pro circuit. And she also explains the Womens Road World Race in Copenhagen (criticised as being boring) from the point of view of the peleton - interesting stuff.
> 
> Videos : Play : Cycling Central on SBS


Sprint courses are intrinsically boring until the last 250 meters.

It was the same for the men's race.


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## orbit (Feb 7, 2007)

robdamanii said:


> Sprint courses are intrinsically boring until the last 250 meters.
> 
> It was the same for the men's race.


True. Yet really only the women's race came into criticism for it. And then you have Pat McQuaid effectively using this argument as evidence to suggest that women's cycling still hasn't developed enough to warrant more financial support. Seems like a catch 22 situation.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

orbit said:


> True. Yet really only the women's race came into criticism for it. And then you have Pat McQuaid effectively using this argument as evidence to suggest that women's cycling still hasn't developed enough to warrant more financial support. Seems like a catch 22 situation.


I criticized the mens race for being boring as hell. The women too. I find sprint courses/stages to be unbearable until the last 250 meters.

There's no reason for disparity in gender other than gender itself. Pat McQuaid is indeed a dick. The difference between cycling and other professions is simply that there are no equal opportunity legislations on the books for cycling and at the human core of it, it's plain wrong.


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## alexb618 (Aug 24, 2006)

pat mcquaid is a '****' but he cannot pluck the money required to support a minimum wage out of thin air

right now, a mandatory minimum wage would mean womens pro racing would completely collapse


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## wibly wobly (Apr 23, 2009)

For sure there isn't the money behind them like most of the men's sporting events right now but, I'm sure the UCI could use some money to juggle things around to help them out if they really wanted to. I mean look at things like tennis. The women get a ton of exposure on TV there and it's not beach volleyball. If people knew the names of the riders, had access to big profile races (like they lost the fem tour de France a little while ago) and they got media exposure I'm sure it would help a lot in the long run to partially equalizing opportunities and paychecks. How much of most bike mags or web pages give them some cred? Most of the time you're lucky to get a short paragraph about what's happening. I should try and dig out what McQuaid had said a few weeks back. He pretty much dumped on all women's sporting and no one said anything. Hosking calls him a dick and people semi freaked out. That's a preposterous double standard. The guys a dino and needs a kick in the a$$ for saying what he did. This isn't the 50's.


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## orbit (Feb 7, 2007)

robdamanii said:


> There's no reason for disparity in gender other than gender itself. Pat McQuaid is indeed a dick. The difference between cycling and other professions is simply that there are no equal opportunity legislations on the books for cycling and at the human core of it, it's plain wrong.





wibly wobly said:


> For sure there isn't the money behind them like most of the men's sporting events right now but, I'm sure the UCI could use some money to juggle things around to help them out if they really wanted to. I mean look at things like tennis. The women get a ton of exposure on TV there and it's not beach volleyball. If people knew the names of the riders, had access to big profile races (like they lost the fem tour de France a little while ago) and they got media exposure I'm sure it would help a lot in the long run to partially equalizing opportunities and paychecks. How much of most bike mags or web pages give them some cred? Most of the time you're lucky to get a short paragraph about what's happening. I should try and dig out what McQuaid had said a few weeks back. He pretty much dumped on all women's sporting and no one said anything. Hosking calls him a dick and people semi freaked out. That's a preposterous double standard. The guys a dino and needs a kick in the a$$ for saying what he did. This isn't the 50's.



*Agreed.* Pat McQuaid has failed dismally as a leader. He has the opportunity to make a difference, yet has chosen to reinforce stereotypes and the position that women's sport is not worth developing.

As one of the senior men in Australian cycling John Trevorrow recently stated "A lot of the problems come from the top end - the world cycling body should be putting pressure on [the men's professional teams] … it could easily be made part of the criteria - to have a pro team, you have to have a women's team - and then they'd all change."


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