Horrilo's open letter to McQuaid 2007

Finally got around to doing a translation of Pedro Horillo's Open Letter to Pat McQuaid originally published in 2007.


Open letter to Mr McQuaid, President of the International Cycling Union

PEDRO HORRILLO

2007

Mr McQuaid, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you personally, although to make things clear from the start, I am not inclined to in the slightest. However, it should not be so, because being the highest representative of our sport, you should be supported and welcomed by all those who are a part of it. But sadly this is not the case.

Maybe at this time you are congratulating yourself on the success of your latest initiative, the famous letter entitled “Rider’s Commitment to a New Cycling” that we have just been compelled to sign by you. And I am not mistaken in using the verb, compel, because many who have signed have done so under duress and threats, the fact is we simply sign, or don’t ride. What seems not to matter is whether the riders are in agreement, or not, whether we have a debate about the issues and whether we work together for a common objective. No, you have simply written the letter without consulting anyone. No, the only thing you care about is that we have signed our names, our ‘agreement’ and that we have jumped through the hoops you have demanded. This is the substance of the issue, although you sell it as otherwise.

Everyone will have their opinion, I've specifically signed the letter, but to me it seems to be the most absurd letter that has lately come from a thinking person. Though if I was to get to the bottom of the matter, I am in favour of tightening up the fight against doping, the scourge that is on track to finish our sport, and I commit myself as a rider to that. But I do not see why as proof of this I should refuse to get paid or give away my wages if I am somehow implicated in a doping scandal. “¿Donde vas? Manzanas traigo” ("Where you going? I bring apples") says the popular Spanish proverb. What is the reason? Where did you get such a brilliant idea from? It seems to me that the reasoning was as simple as ... we will hit you where it hurts most: money. I can assure you are wrong about me, as what it hurt me the most was the fact that I had to swallow my pride to comply with your command, but I know that you do not care about that at all. The fact is that I signed.

And by the way, I signed it knowing that this document is unlawful and undemocratic. That is to say, a useless piece of paper, you have a large collection of useless pieces of paper in a folder, but of course, all signed, as you wanted. Anyway, my most sincere congratulations.

And finally, a wish. I hope that with the departure of the first rider in this Tour de France 2007, your central role is over and from now on the attention will be drawn back to the rightful owners: the riders.

Sincerely,

Pedro Horrillo