David Lappartient has won a huge majority to take the UCI presidency. The Frenchman defeated Brian Cookson 37-8 to end Cookson’s four-year tenancy of the post. Both men came into Thursday’s election with high hopes and were confident of winning a majority needed from the 45 voting delegates.
Cookson won the presidency four years ago in Florence, defeating Pat McQuaid 24-18, but has had a difficult four years in charge of the governing body. He is the first president to only serve one term.
The election took place at the 186th UCI Congress in Bergen and brought an end to a long campaign. On the eve of the election Cookson told Cyclingnews that he was confident of winning but of all the experts Cyclingnews spoke to only one had Cookson ahead in the polls, and they were from British Cycling.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lobbying went on well into the night on Wednesday evening but Lappartient built up support from most of the confederations, especially in Europe where he led the European Cycling Union (UEC). Both candidates gave speeches on Thursday morning in which they outlined their manifestos, but before the vote one source told Cyclingnews that Lappartient had a 39-6 majority.
"Dear voting delegates, ladies and gentlemen, representatives of national federations, friends, I am deeply honoured to address my first presidential speech before you today. You just elected me as president of the Union Cycliste Internationale. I’m very grateful for your support and wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart," said Lappartient.
"It is a great responsibility, and I will endevour in the next four years of my presidency to be worthy of such trust and deliver my commitment to you. I’m delighted to see that my electors have come from all continents. The projects that I’ve proposed to the UCI and which I share with you seem to offer greater hope for the future of international cycling.
Where did Cookson lose the election?
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2hkOWfq
No comments:
Post a Comment