Lappartient elected unopposed to second term as UCI president
'I want to continue to serve our sport,' says Frenchman
David Lappartient has been re-elected for a second term as UCI President, having stood unopposed at the 190th meeting of the UCI Congress during the UCI Road World Championships in Belgium.
Bernard Foucher, president of the UCI Ethics Commission, announced the results on Friday afternoon. With Lappartient the only candidate for the presidency, the Frenchman was confirmed for a four-year second term with no votes cast.
"I was so happy to work for our sport, for the sport we love, cycling, for the last four years, and I want to continue to serve our sport," Lappartient said shortly after being confirmed for a second term as president.
"Cycling is our passion. This is what we have as unity between us, and that is key. I want to continue to contribute to the development of cycling."
In his first term, Lappartient followed former UCI president Brian Cookson's initiatives to grow women's cycling, creating women's WorldTeams with minimum wages, among other achievements.
Lappartient has also focused on combating mechanical doping, improving rider safety, WorldTour reforms.
"Every day when I wake up, I want to find some new ideas. Our goal here is to enlarge cycling, to bring dreams to young riders and kids, to give the opportunity to see some wonderful events worldwide for all the disciplines across the five continents.
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"This sport is not coming from nowhere. We have a very strong history and solid routes, more specifically on the track and road, but with the new disciplines coming in we have so many opportunities. Cycling is becoming a real big sport worldwide."
Lappartient thanked the 201 member national federations of the UCI, which today included Equatorial Guinea, the Solomon Islands, South Sudan, and the Vatican for the first time.
He also outlined several projects for the future of the sport that had been announced during the day's UCI Congress, including increased women's participation and the first Road World Championships to be held in Africa, in Rwanda in 2025.
"This is also for the 201 national federations. You are the heart of cycling, with the volunteers inside the national federations. It's for you that we are working. We want to develop cycling; we want to do more. You saw today in the different reports what the future will be – more women in cycling and in governance, the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow, a new UCI Track Champions League, and so on.
"I want to thank you for your full support, and you can count on me for the next four years. I will put the same energy into the next four years as I did the last."
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from 2024 include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.