Uci President Cookson Appoints New Team
Former president of British Cycling and newly appointed president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), Brian Cookson, has kicked off his new role with the appointment of three new vice-presidents.
After an acrimonious campaign concluded with victory over incumbent Pat McQuaid, Cookson appointed Mohammed Azzam, Tracey Gaudry and David Leppartient, who had all been supporters of Cookson’s campaign.
Australian Tracey Gaudry is the first woman to be appointed to the role of vice-president and tweeted: ‘To be elected by peers as UCI VP represents a great honour, a commitment by all to a progressive future, and much good work ahead!’
Cookson said he was eager to move the UCI in a new direction following a tumultuous few years under the stewardship of McQuaid: ‘This is a new administration, I want to emphasise that, we will be making some changes. I’ve already appointed three new vice-presidents with the agreement and support of the Management Committee this morning. We’re going to take the UCI in a new direction. There’s a lot of work to be done and there’s a lot of changes to be made. I won’t have all the answers to everything within a few days but we’re certainly going to start this journey in the right way.’
Cookson emphasised he would also be focusing on developing a strong relationship with the new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, to ensure cycling’s place in the Olympic programme is protected: ‘The first thing I’ll be doing is putting in a call to the President of the IOC to make sure we have a good, strong relationship.’
The appointment was welcomed by Sebastian Coe, chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA): ‘The decision taken by the UCI represents a turning point for the sport of cycling, and we congratulate Brian Cookson on his election. It was with vision, determination and a genuine commitment to work in partnership that Brian was able to lead the transformation of British Cycling, and I am confident he will do the same for the UCI.’
