Race organizer and now RFEC president Jose Luis Lopez Cerron shown here giving instructions unrelated to beef delivery to Levi Leipheimer. (photo courtesy BBC News)

“I am pleased to be announcing the partnership with the Basque-based Kalitatea Foundation, the organization behind the “Eusko label” project highlighting food products grown and cultivated in the Basque region. This relationship will help solidify the development of Basque, Spanish, and Catalan riders of all stripes,” stated Lopez Cerron.

The promotional program would involve Basque beef, in particular.

“We are  happy to provide assistance to the Basque beef industry, which has suffered some minor inconveniences because of the clenbuterol debacle in relation to my close personal friend, Alberto Contador. We are looking forward to a Basque beef commercial series for the European market featuring our top three finishers at the Vuelta Espana,” stated Lopez Cerron.

The campaign “Bask in Basque Beef” will feature footage from farms throughout the the region with clips showing Contador, along with Alejandro Valverde and Purito Rodriguez, dining on high-quality steaks from the northern region of Spain. The campaign is produced with the cooperation of the RFEC, which is underwriting the campaign in exchange for sponsorship money promoting key races in the region.

When asked if this campaign was “payback” to the beef producers whose reputations were damaged following the Contador debacle where Lopez Cerron delivered beef that the Contador insisted was tainted with clenbuterol, Lopez Cerron was aghast at the inference.

“No way, says Jose. Never, never, never. Kalitatea came to us with the suggestion for partnership, and they also suggested the beef industry would be logical for inclusion, as professional cyclists are consumers of vast quantities of protein and so are their fans. This is in no way some sort of apology to the beef industry for what they were put through during the Contador business,” stated Lopez Perron.

Cycling pundits weren’t convinced this was strictly a coincidence.

“Look, firstly, Jose is elected to the presidency after being the meat driver for Contador. What’s next? Motoman taking over French anti-doping efforts? Now, the RFEC has announced a partnership deal with an industry they took aim at in order to defend one of their hallowed cyclists? Seems there’s some tainted beef in this particular story. Rank, tainted beef,” commented an anonymous Telegraph reporter who may have been Brendan Gallagher.

The campaign is rumored to be rolling out into the European Union in March. More details on the race sponsorship will be revealed in January, according to Spanish cycling officials.

Cyclismas.com has learned that the UCI sent “cease and desist” letters to the RFEC, stating that the actions were unsanctioned and in violation of the UCI’s cyclist’s code of conduct. The UCI asked the RFEC for immediate retraction of any published videos portraying the hand motions  in any of the racing or podium ceremonies, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or “any other social media outlet of evil.”

KoM winner Simon Clarke and Eurosport reporter Laura Meseguer demonstrate the motions deemed “illegal” by the UCI. (Photo courtesy of Laura Meseguer)

“We feel the Call Me Maybe work by the Orica-GreenEDGE team promotes the spirit of teamwork and camaraderie, and shows that the sport of cycling isn’t just about winning at all costs, but also about the joy competition brings. We fail to see the difference between raising arms in victory on the podium or pointing at numbers on the jersey,” stated the joint press release.However, the RFEC and Unipublic, the organiser of the Vuelta, didn’t see where the actions were a violation of any codes – UCI or otherwise – issuing this joint statement via the aforementioned “evil” social media feeds:

The press release further noted that neither the team nor any individuals from the team had experienced any personal profit or sponsorship gain from the arrangement, nor had they made use of the Vuelta trademarks in the filming or playback of the footage.

UCI spokesperson Enrico Carpani stated that the UCI felt differently.

“We have asked for the video files from the RFEC in order for us to conduct our own review to determine if the footage is in violation of UCI rules,” stated Carpani.

Cycling pundits around the globe were rather confused by the request.

“For goodness sake, it’s on YouTube. Does anyone at the UCI know how to use a computer? Seriously, people, I mean, this organization is just becoming a laughing stock of itself,” stated one anonymous pundit who may or may not have been Cycling Weekly journalist Sophie Smith.

UCI president Pat McQuaid was on his pre-Trinidad annual holiday in the Caymans and unavailable for comment. All three UCI vice-presidents were unable to be found for comment, which has been the case since 2005. The UCI also refused to confirm, in fact, if said vice presidents – Hee Wok Cho, Renato di Rocco, and Artur Lopes – had even been consulted at all on the scandal internally referred to as “MaybeGate.”

Orica-GreenEDGE spokesperson Brian Nygaard had this to say about the controversy:

“I’m proud of the work our team did. RFEC has no issue with our work. Unipublic wishes to use our product in future race promotion. And the UCI? It’s business as usual from that particular organisation,” stated Nygaard.

No word yet if the UCI will take this case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS representatives were unable to confirm if they had received any contact from the UCI.