See the Dominion Post 12 December 2006
See this; Being tortured
From the August 2006 edition - Hutt Alive magazine
Promoter Jorge Sandoval had done more than anyone to lift the profile of the sport of cycling in this country. His efforts in bringing to New Zealand the biggest ever international road cycling events won him the accolade of joint recipient of the 2006 Sport Wellington Administrator of the Year title. He’d won the same title in 1998.
But what of the man behind the headlines?
JORGE SANDOVAL - POLITICAL REFUGEE TO NZ’S ‘MR CYCLING’
For many Hutt people, the highlight of this sporting year was watching New Zealand’s own golden girl Sarah Ulmer ride to victory around the streets of central Lower Hutt in March.
The same weekend she went on to take the women’s road cycling World Cup crown in Wellington.
That was a special moment of triumph, too, for race organiser Jorge Sandoval.
The one-time political refugee with a passionate desire to share his love of cycling has taken rugby-mad New Zealand head-on to bring top international riders to our shores.
Left picture, A world away - Jorge as a 17-year old student in the uniform of a voluntary fireman, three months before he was put on a concentration camp.
By his own remarkable guts and determination to build the sport’s profile here, he’s succeeding.
Chilean-born Jorge has packed a lot into his 30 years since arriving in this country as a young political refugee. As an 18-year-old electronic engineering student living in Tome, 690 kilometres south of Santiago, Jorge Sandoval-Medina was twice arrested for his political activities.
The first time was for being a member of a student political party aligned with the government headed by president Salvador Allende and the second was for refusing to join the army which eventually overthrew and killed Allende in a military coup in 1973.
All he wanted to do, he says, was to remain at university to study.
"I went to jail rather than be in that army."
He was in a concentration camp for over a year and suffered torture during that time. Help for his release came from New Zealanders on a Human Rights Commission visit to the camp. Three months after their visit he was taken to Argentina, where he spent two years before coming to New Zealand as a political refugee.
He next returned to Chile as part of a New Zealand cycling team in 1988 to ride the 14 day international Vuelta a Chile, Tour of Chile, (he rode for Port Nicholson-Poneke). He had received a special amnesty to travel back.
In the past 10 years he has been able to make an annual trip home to visit his aging parents - and to celebrate happy occasions like their Golden Wedding.
"My parents suffered a lot because of what I’d done," he says.
Family is important to him. Daughters Marcellina and Yessennia and son Daniel came to New Zealand to live with him and now he has a kiwi grandson, Oscar - without doubt the apple of his eye.
Plain-speaking Jorge Sandoval works away in his home office in the quiet suburb of Stokes Valley to bring the thrill of the of the world’s grand cycle races to our streets.
"We got the best 22 countries in the world to Lower Hutt for the women’s world cup, and the Wellington race was shown on TV in 35 countries. I challenge any other sport here to say they have had the best 22 countries in the world competing in New Zealand."
Our "big two", rugby and cricket, he adds, could never do so - there are not enough countries in the world which regard those two sports as important.
"Just look at the Soccer World Cup or the Tour de France. Look at the millions of spectators who support them. Overseas they just cannot get enough of those sports. They are like a religion."
Jorge has been in New Zealand now for 31 years and spent 20 of them running events.
When receiving his sports award recently, he remarked how appropriate it was The Angus Inn was its sponsor. Peter Norrie from The Angus has been an events supporter since day one and that means a lot to Jorge. So, too, does support from local Valley councils and organisations like the Police.
The challenges for a promoter are enormous and the setbacks can be devastating.
The latest is the news the Union Cycliste International (UCI) has moved the Wellington round of the 2007 Women’s World Cup to another city. Undaunted he is now hard at work enhancing the more well-established Women’s Tour of Wellington and the Wairarapa and the TrustHouse men’s Tour of Wellington.
Jorge hasn’t worked hard all these years to just let the momentum go now.
If he has his way, kiwi cycling fans will one day throng the sides of the roads during races like they do now in Europe.
On drug use and sport
Commenting on the recent publicity over Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, Jorge says while there is no doubt it is not good news for the sport, cycling is the only sport in the world constantly testing its riders, on and off the bike.
Jorge says he had to test riders every day during his recent international events.
"That’s why they find the bad apples. They don’t hide it."
Jorge says he watches other sports in New Zealand.
"You see players go off the field half dead and come out again full of beans. I don’t think they give them Holy water in the dressing rooms. I am not going to say everyone does it, but most have probably been involved. People want to win."
He says other sporting codes are not as open about drug testing as cycling is.
"That’s why we don’t hear about them.
"The Tour de France is the biggest cycle race in the world with the biggest names in the world" and so is under immense world scrutiny.