Edited Date/Time:
In the shadow of more important things going on this week, like Interbike or the Road Racing World Champs in Bergen, Norway, the UCI has elected a new president. David Lappartient defeated incumbent president Brian Cookson by 37 votes to 8, and to figure out what this might mean for the part of the sport that we all love so dearly here at Vital, we had a little browse through the program that David was elected on. Let's just say that as far as MTB as a whole goes, it's fairly underwhelming...and as for the gravity disciplines, apart from a fleeting mention (between brackets) on page 13, the word "downhill" literally does not appear anywhere in the 32-page document. There is a veiled threat to do more with "ENDURO" racing in one obscure bullet point somewhere on page 21, but we've heard that one before - let's hope the UCI continues to leave the EWS well and truly alone to continue running its successful and highly entertaining series.
The program does talk of creating a World Championship that pulls together the Olympic disciplines of the sport in a single event every 4 years (in the year preceding the Olympic Games), which would possibly move XCO racing even further away from the gravity disciplines. Whether this is a good, bad, or indifferent evolution would remain to be seen. What seems obvious is that mountain biking is not high on this president's agenda (his cover letter is certainly very road-oriented), so expecting improvements like more World Cup DH races and better geographical coverage would seem rather far-fetched at this point.
So, more of the same or even less than before? And is that good or bad? HERE'S A COPY of the whole program if you care to read it.
Full Press Release from the UCI:
Frenchman David Lappartient has today been elected President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) after securing 37 votes to 8 against incumbent Brian Cookson. The vote took place at the UCI Congress in Bergen, Norway, and comprised the 45 voting delegates democratically elected within each Continental Confederation responsible for electing the UCI President and Management Committee (see note to editors).
Speaking about his election as UCI President, David Lappartient declared: “I am extremely grateful for the support the UCI National Federations have shown for me today. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for the great responsibility you are now giving me. I am delighted that the votes in my favour have come from all corners of the globe. I would like to congratulate Brian Cookson for his work over the past four years. I know how passionate he is about our sport and I acknowledge his disappointment. Lastly, I want to thank all of those who have helped me over the past few months. I cannot wait to start working for the good of cycling, and I wish everyone a successful remainder of these 2017 UCI Road World Championships in Bergen, Norway.”
The UCI Congress also elected the following UCI Management Committee for the next four years:
• Dr Mohamed Wagih AZZAM (EGY) as President of the CAC
• Ms Tracey GAUDRY (AUS) as President of the OCC
• Mr Osama Ahmed Abdullah AL SHAFAR (UAE) as President of the ACC
• Mr José Manuel PELAEZ (CUB ) as President of the COPACI
• Mr Amarjit Singh Gill DARSHAN SINGH (MAS) representing the ACC
• Mr Mohammed BEN EL MAHI (MAR) representing the CAC
• Mr Bob STAPLETON (USA) representing the COPACI
• Mr Tony MITCHELL (NZL) representing the OCC
• Mr Artur LOPES (POR) representing the UEC
• Mr Renato DI ROCCO (ITA) representing the UEC
• Mr Igor MAKAROV (RUS) representing the UEC
• Mr José Luis LOPEZ CERRON (ESP) representing the UEC
• Mr Toni KIRSH (GER) representing the UEC
• Mr Tom VAN DAMME (BEL) representing the UEC
• Mr Harald Tiedemann HANSEN (NOR) representing the UEC.
Finally, the UCI Congress voted in favour of granting Anguilla, Curaçao, Saint Martin and Guinea-Bissau official membership of the UCI, taking its total membership to 190 National Federations.
Notes to Editors
The voting rights of the National Federations are exercised through voting delegates, elected democratically within each Continental Confederation. In total, there are 45 voting delegates, spread over the Continental Confederations as follows:
Africa: 9 delegates
America: 9 delegates
Asia: 9 delegates
Europe: 15 delegates
Oceania: 3 delegates.
