'There is no other choice but to change' - Lappartient vows climate action in cycling

UCI president David Lappartient has given the sustainability of professional cycling a four out of 10 rating as he vowed to make the sport greener.

The Frenchman has, in an interview with Cycling Weekly, outlined a series of proposals in order to make the sport more sustainable, including a revamp of the calendar, a switch to electric vehicles, and working with organisers to reduce travel.

He said that "there is no other choice but to change" in the upcoming years, referring to the UCI's 'Agenda 2030', which sets out a plan to make cycling carbon neutral with all stakeholders reducing their emissions by 50%.

"There is no other choice but to change," Lappartient told Cycling Weekly. "We are not at the level we should be. We are on the right path, but our starting point was not good and there's a lot of effort to do.

"Our ambition is really high, to get a score of 10, and we're getting better. We've started sharing goals, a vision, but I think we have to develop more, and it has to be a truly common goal for everybody."

So what has to change, then? Lappartient, who has run the UCI since being elected in 2017, said that the calendar can be reorganised into geographical blocks in order to reduce travel and subsequently reduce carbon emissions.

Teams staying in the same hotel during racing blocks such as the spring and autumn Classics are another idea raised.

"We have to organise the WorldTour calendar in a way that reduces our emissions, and so that we're not moving from one part of the globe to the other every month," Lappartient said.

"In the Agenda 2030 booklet, it's written that we have to reschedule the WorldTour and other calendars. So [starting from January] it goes from Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and then Asia. By reshaping the calendar, we can help reduce the sport's carbon footprint.

"Within Europe, we should have different racing slots in different areas where all the team vehicles can stay for an extended period of time, even if the riders don't. A good example is the Classics in Belgium in the spring, and the Italian Classics in autumn: teams are in the same hotels for three weeks, there are races every few days, and this reduces the carbon footprint."

He also said that Grand Tours have to change their ways, with long rest day transfers set to be a thing of the past, organisers needing to make the move to electric cars as seen in races such as the Arctic Race of Norway, and rules put in place to prevent distant Grand Départs.

"In the future, we can't have 900km rest days," said Lappartient. "There's no way they can continue like that. We will be reviewing this. For the organisers to reduce their own emissions by 50%, they have no choice but to drive electric cars and to reduce the distances between stages.

"We have to modify some rules in the UCI to not avoid having Grand Départs somewhere else but to not have them so far away. I remember [in 2016] we had a proposition from the Giro d'Italia to start from Tokyo, Japan. That is not something we could support now."

Teams will also have to play a part, Lappartient said, with a need to reduce the emissions from the vast amounts racked up by the numbers of cars, vans, buses, trucks and flights needed to move riders and staff around the world.

A number of teams and organisers, including the ASO and RCS Sport, have already signed up to the UCI's climate action charter, which includes commitments such as reducing waste, prioritising low-carbon transport, and taking into account the effect of climate change for the sport's future plans.

In the future, emission goals will be one of the prerequisites in order to obtain a WorldTour licence, too. Currently, teams need to meet obligations such as funding, anti-doping, and UCI points in order to race in cycling's top tier.

"Today, the licence commission has to verify if [teams] have a pay guarantee, have enough money to pay [riders and staff], the sporting level of the team is good enough, if their anti-doping measures are strong," Lappartient said. "[In 2030], they will have to reduce their emissions by 50% and be carbon neutral. This will be another mandatory point on the specifications to be a WorldTour team in 2030."

Lappartient noted that the UCI has already taken steps to reduce emissions, a way of leading the rest of the sport by showing it's possible to make those changes. He said that the sport's governing body has cut emissions at their Swiss headquarters by 38% already.

"Alongside our experts, the UCI has to explain to teams the different ways to do things, to share good practice, and to show the road ourselves," he said. "We have reduced emissions at our headquarters by 38%, changed lights in UCI buildings, and reduced the number of flights. We're not yet at 50% reduction, but we're on the right path. We can't give obligations without abiding by them ourselves.

"First of all, you have to reduce. We don't only want to have compensation by planting trees. It's important to state: we don't want greenwashing, we want results."