FDJ team manager Marc Madiot has backed David Lappartient as a future UCI president, confirming that the Ligue Nationale de Cyclisme (the French Professional Cycling League), will also support Lappartient if he decides to stand against Brian Cookson in the September UCI elections.
Speaking to French newspaper Le Parisien after the recent presentation of the Paris-Nice route, Madiot called for an end to a short-term vision for the sport. Madiot has often criticised the way Cookson and the UCI management run the sport in his blog on Cyclingnews.
Lappartient is UCI vice-president, the president of the European Cycling Union, and has confirmed he will not stand for re-election as president of the French Cycling Federation. He has not yet thrown his hat in the ring for the role of UCI president but is widely expected to challenge Cookson after clashing several times, most recently over WorldTour reforms.
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A change in president would represent a shift in direction in the running of the sport, with France returning to a dominant position thanks to Lappartient and Tour de France organiser ASO. Several key European federations have shown signs they are losing faith in Cookson as his first four-year team comes to an end, and may support Lappartient.
“We need a true revolution, an overhaul of the overall function of cycling. And that goes via the election of the new president of the UCI. Change is needed,” Le Parisien reports Madiot as saying.
“If we continue with the same line, it’ll be costly for a good part of the calendar in the coming years and not only for French races. What happened with Qatar is not insignificant,” he said referring to the cancelation of this year’s Tour of Qatar, despite it being made part of the 2017 WorldTour.
In defence of historic races
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