By Duncan Mackay

Brian Cookson head and shouldersJune 17 - Brian Cookson, President of British Cycling, has admitted that he is "disturbed" by the contents of a confidential dossier concerning Pat McQuaid's involvement in the Lance Armstrong scandal. 


The report on the International Cycling Union (UCI) President's role in the affair was presented at the world governing body's Management Committee meeting in Bergen last Friday (June 14), of which Cookson is a member.

McQuaid tried unsuccessfully to block discussion of the dossier, compiled by Mike Plant, an American member of the UCI Management Committee, but his objections were overruled and it led to heated discussions among several members.

Contents of the document have so far remained confidential but Cookson, who is standing against McQuaid for the UCI Presidency in Florence in September, has expressed his shock at its contents.

"Over the past weekend, you may have read reports on the proceedings of last week's UCI Management Committee in Bergen," Cookson wrote in a blog on his personal website.

"I have to respect the confidentiality of the Management Committee with regards to the contents of the dossier with which we were presented.

"But what I can say is that I was disturbed by what I heard and I have been assured it will be properly investigated."

Cookson, meanwhile, will officially publish details of his manifesto at a special event in Paris next Monday (June 24).

He is due to hold it at the Radisson Blu Ambassador Hotel Paris Opera, which is located close to where the UCI was founded in April 1900.

"Harnessing the rewards that come from hosting high-profile events to bring altruistic developments at grass roots levels should be the ultimate goal for all governing bodies," wrote Cookson.

"My soon to be published strategy will outline my plan to instil these values across the UCI."

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