McQuaid in race to keep top cycling job
President faces challenger critical of organisation 'mired' in controversy
Dragging cycling from the "mire" of the Lance Armstrong affair will be Brian Cookson's objective if the British Cycling chief succeeds in unseating International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid later this year.
McQuaid's bid for a third term as president of cycling's ruling body is set to be decided at a UCI congress at the world championships in Florence in September.
[The UCI] is mired and tied up in controversies from the past
However, the Irishman's tenure is under threat for the first time as the sport battles to rid itself of allegations of collusion in the biggest scandal in its history.
During his seven-year tenure McQuaid is credited with introducing measures to boost the fight against doping and taking top level events to new countries in a bid to globalise the sport.
Yet questions remain over the UCI's role in allegedly helping Armstrong by covering up tests he previously failed.
McQuaid was still only a UCI member when Armstrong retired the first time, in 2005. However the governing body is under the microscope.
As well as fingering Armstrong, the publication of a damning report by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) report in October last year also left a shadow over UCI following accusations the body had been complicit in covering up previous positive tests during the era of McQuaid's predecessor, Hein Verbruggen.
