The Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC) held its traditional annual Congress in Loulé, Portugal on Sunday 13 March 2016 that was attended by 37 out of 50 member National Federations and the President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), Brian COOKSON.
At this meeting, a report was given on the Union Européenne de Cyclisme’s main activities with over 50 official race days in which 48 National Federations took part. 2015 was marked by the success of the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan and the creation of the first Elite Cyclo-Cross European Championships in the Netherlands.
The financial report showed a profit of 262.000 CHF. It was unanimously adopted as well as the 2016 budget amounting to 3 M CHF, which has increased five-fold since the beginning of the mandate.
The President, David LAPPARTIENT gave a presentation on the Road European Championships in Nice and Monaco, Championships that for the first time are open to Elite riders. National Federations welcomed this new initiative that will also award a completely redesigned jersey which was presented at the Congress.
At this meeting, the Union Européenne de Cyclisme was also pleased to announce to members that a multi-year contract had been finalised with the European Broadcasting Union (Eurovision) which will produce and broadcast all European Championships in the disciplines of Road, Track, Cyclo-Cross, BMX and Mountain Biking in Europe and all over the world.
Lastly, the 2018 European Sports Championships that will bring together 7 sports (athletics, rowing, cycling, golf, gymnastic, aquatics and triathlon) were presented to National Federations. The 4 Olympic cycling disciplines (Road, Track, BMX and Mountain Biking) will take place in Glasgow from 1st to 12th August 2018.
The Congress also unanimously agreed to the reform of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme Constitution aimed at modernising the functioning of our Confederation.
Another important point at the Congress was the fight against technological fraud. The Union Européenne de Cyclisme and the Union Cycliste Internationale both affirmed their commitment to do everything in their power to fight effectively against this new form of cheating. The Union Européenne de Cyclisme gave a presentation on technological fraud which will be sent to the Union Cycliste Internationale. This presentation detailed the actions undertaken to increase checks and their effectiveness.
Following a question from the delegate of the Estonian Federation, the President, David LAPPARTIENT proposed to provide each member National Federation with the same detection methods as those used by the Union Cycliste Internationale and proposed to fund this equipment with the Solidarity Fund allocated by the Union Européenne de Cyclisme.
In their speeches, the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, Brian COOKSON and the President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme, David LAPPARTIENT both reaffirmed their wish to find a solution to the dispute between the parties involved in the World Tour and will work together to solve this.
The President, Brian COOKSON praised the work carried out in the fight against doping and that cycling had regained its credibility since he took over. He informed member National Federations that he intended to apply for another and final mandate of 4 years as President of the Union Cycliste Internationale.
David LAPPARTIENT stated that he was very pleased about the Union Européenne de Cyclisme’s development especially with the creation of the Road European Championships, a historic agreement for the broadcasting of our European Championships with Eurovision and the 2018 European Sports Championships. Finally, he announced that he would be putting forward his candidature to continue as President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme and that he wished to continue to serve cycling and to govern our sport on an international level.