Manifesto | Six point plan to keep cycling growing globally

Baroness Sue Campbell – Chair of UK Sport, 2003-2013

Brian Cookson's personal integrity, alongside his commitment and dedication to his sport has been absolutely key in transforming the UCI over the last four years. I have no hesitation in supporting his re-election for a second term as UCI President.

Bob Howden – President & Jonathan Browning – Chairman, British Cycling

During his time as President of British Cycling our federation developed from being a body in crisis to a turnaround success story. The success came not just in terms of medals won, but in levels of participation, in the bringing of major events to our shores and by inspiring Britons to fall in love with the sport. British Cycling wholeheartedly recommends Brian Cookson for re-election as the UCI President.

Osama Al Shafar – President, Asian Cycling Confederation and UAE Cycling Federation

We at the ACC support you in your endeavour to continue the process of transformation of UCI and also your special attention towards the Asian Continent in its march towards propagation and excellence at all levels of this wonderful sport of cycling.

Michael P. Plant – UCI Management Committee Member and 1980 Olympian

Your daily focus and objective is driven by what you can do to make us better and stronger by working in concert with the athletes, key stakeholders, membership, federations, Management Team and staff. Your professional approach, respect for those who interact with you and commitment to do the right thing has helped our organization achieve new levels of success.

Tracey Gaudry – President Oceania Cycling Confederation & Vice President UCI Management Committee

The progress we have made under Brian's presidency has been extensive and includes professionalising the sport for women across all disciplines, promoting the increased participation of women and girls in cycling as a sport and activity, and furthering the involvement of women throughout the governance, administration and delivery of the sport.

Harald Tiedeman Hansen – President Norwegian Cycling Federation and Member UCI Management Committee

We’ve made great progress across the board, including in the sphere of technology where we’ve transformed the UCI from a conservative federation to one that embraces and promotes progress. I look forward to supporting him during his second mandate.

John Tolkamp – President, Cycling Canada

Under Brian's leadership the UCI has taken great steps to restore the integrity of the sport, stabilize its operations and most importantly grow all aspects of the sport globally in a sustainable manner.

William Newman – President, Cycling South Africa

I'm sure another four years as UCI President will result in more great things for track cycling, and for African cycling across all disciplines.

Michel Thioub – President, Senegal Cycling Federation

Four years ago, I had chosen Brian, and I am pleased to see that he has provided unwavering support for the development of African Cycling.

Federico Moreira – Presidente, Federación Ciclista Uruguaya

On behalf of the Federación Ciclista Uruguaya, I wish to say that, under Brian Cookson’s leadership, cycling’s reputation has been restored and the interests of Latin American nations have been better addressed than ever before.

Robert Farrier – President, Trinidad & Tobago Cycling Federation

Under Brian’s stewardship, the UCI will continue to make great strides in improving the Sport of cycling, its athletes and administrators on a global scale.

Swiss Cycling

Brian has been credible in the fight against doping and for an open and transparent association. It should also be emphasized that, with the participation of all the key players, he has taken the initiative to adapt cycling to the current conditions and needs, globally and in a timely manner.

Captain Sawadogo – President, Burkina Faso Cycling Federation

We have indeed read your manifesto and we appreciate its true value. It is with pleasure that we will see you re-elected head of world cycling.

Mabrouk Kerboua – President of the Algerian Cycling Federation

Our federation adheres perfectly to your cycling development strategy and we thank you for all the renewal you have made during the last four years in cycling, throughout the world.

Madis Lepajõe – Former President, Estonian Cycling Federation

He is a leader who believes in democracy. Brian talks to people and listens their opinions even if they are by far different of his own views. He is convinced that cycling needs continuous development and new ideas to attract all generations.

Sergey Bubka – IOC Member

I find it very good for the development and adaptation of sport to the realities of modern life and respect Brian’s willingness to contribute in this way to the Olympic movement and cycling in particular.

Peter King – Chief Executive Officer, British Cycling Federation, 1997 to 2008

Transformation of any complex organisation is a long-term task and to complete Brian’s manifesto to modernise, develop and enhance both the UCI and World cycling requires a second term. I support Brian and wish him well in his campaign for re-election.

Ricardo Nogare – Brazil, Member of the UCI Mass Participation Commission

Brian has been a very good President for Latin America and for cycling across the world. We especially appreciated all the work he put in to ensure the cycling events at the Rio Olympic Games were a big success.

Lord Sebastian Coe – President IAAF, and former Chairman British Olympic Association

Brian became President of Cycling at a particularly challenging time for the sport. He has brought a real sense of purpose and re-direction to the sport and I am very happy to support his ambitions to serve a further term as UCI President.

Sir Philip Craven MBE – President of the International Paralympic Committee & International Olympic Committee Member

I am happy to support his candidacy for a second term as UCI President being sure that he will have more time to take Para cycling forward to a new level of development within the UCI.

Travis Tygart – CEO, United States Anti-Doping Agency

The way UCI conducts itself in anti-doping has been completely transformed since 2013. It has earned itself the reputation of highly competent and trusted partner, a model for other sports.

Peter Nicholson – Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) Member and WADA expert

Brian Cookson's clarity of vision and his unswerving determination to attack doping issues in the sport were central to the CIRC's capacity to operate independently and with a broad mandate.

Andy Parkinson – Former CEO, UK Anti-Doping

I have known him for many years and he has always operated with the best interests of the sport at heart. Since moving to the UCI, the same principles have applied and the UCI is now a trusted ally in the fight against doping, committed to the protection of all athletes in the sport, and a strong advocate for the type of governance required from such organisations.

Rod Carr – UK Sport Chair 2013 – 2017 and UK Sport Board Member 2003 – 2017

I have known Brian for many years and have respect for his achievements. Initially as Chair of British Cycling, overseeing the Olympic and Paralympic medal success, and more recently as President of the UCI where he has shown strong leadership in implementing important and necessary reforms.

Sir Hugh Robertson – Chairman of the British Olympic Association (and previously UK Minister for Sport and the Olympics 2010 – 2013)

During his first term as President, Brian has shown the leadership necessary to reform the sport and restore its reputation. I very much hope that he is given a second term to finish this vital task.

Cedric Vasseur – Professional Cyclist 1993 - 2007, Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey, now TV commentator

I congratulate Brian Cookson and his team very warmly for all the actions they have undertaken over the past 4 years. Brian has reinvigorated each cycling discipline and great progress has been made in many areas.

Dirk Craen – President, European University

It has been a pleasure to see the progress in the UCI over the last four years, and the European University was delighted to award Brian the Degree of Doctor of Civil Laws, Honoris Causa, in recognition of his achievements.

Robbert de Kock – President and CEO WFSGI-World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry

Brian’s natural leadership has led to new visions and his sensible and balanced decisions have seen engagement with all stakeholders. His main focus always is to improve the conditions for the riders.

Scott Kaylin – Co-founder and President at Champion System

The UCI, under Brian's leadership, has made great progress in growing the sport of cycling worldwide. He recognizes the value and need to work with the broad stakeholders and has been proactive in collaborating with industry to ensure their needs and concerns are incorporated as cycling develops further.

Jaimie Fuller – Executive Chairman, Skins

Cycling has had a difficult history with doping, particularly within the tenure of the previous two Presidents. Brian has, in his current term as President, rebuilt the bridges with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the anti-doping community as a whole and made administrative changes to ensure the independence of anti-doping administration and sanction.

Monica Santini – Managing Director, Santini Maglificio Sportivo

I can state in all honesty that this current administration under the stewardship of Mr. Cookson has brought about truly positive and progressive advancements that have had wide ranging benefits for the world of cycling, aspects that I feel will only continue to grow with his re-election.

Kristin Klein – President, Amgen Tour of California and Executive Vice President, AEG

Brian’s vision for a strong international cycling organization supporting men’s and women’s platforms has not only helped us to raise the profile of our race but has helped the sport of cycling reach new levels of success across numerous measurable categories and revenue streams.

Michael S. Gollner – Executive Chairman, Madison Sports Group

We at Madison Sports Group are trying to modernize and improve upon our version of track cycling through our Six Day Series. I have therefore observed with awe the significant improvements you at the UCI have implemented into track cycling over time and I saw the Hong Kong event was a delightful manifestation of that progression.

Alain Bovay – Deputy and Mayor, St-Légier-La Chiésaz

Since your arrival in the region of the Canton of Vaud, you made contacts promptly and your first-class work on the field has significantly paid off. I appreciate your unwavering commitment to the UCI.

Sir Gary Verity – CEO Welcome to Yorkshire

Having strong and enlightened leadership at the top of cycling’s world governing body is imperative for the future success of our sport. Without the right leadership, we wouldn't have invested and developed the Tour de Yorkshire into something special, or joined with partners to bid for the UCI's flagship event the road world championship to be held in Yorkshire in 2019.

Rochelle Gilmore – Wiggle High5 General Manager

Since Brian Cookson was elected as president of the UCI I have observed a significant, and rapid development in Women’s Cycling. Honouring his election platform for the development of Women’s Cycling Brian has worked tirelessly in his commitment to better our sport.

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Manifesto | Brian Cookson's six point plan to keep cycling growing globally

Brian Cookson and Thomas Bach of the IOC

1. Drive growth across all cycling’s disciplines

Secure an expanded Olympic and Paralympic programme in Tokyo 2020 and beyond

Our status as a major Olympic and Paralympic sport is vital, especially to our national federations. Rio 2016 was a great success for cycling and I will use our excellent reputation in the Olympic movement to grow cycling’s presence in Tokyo 2020 and beyond.

Complete the rebirth of the UCI Track World Cup

Track cycling is one of the UCI’s key disciplines. We’ve done a major review and implemented some significant changes to boost track cycling, and I now want us to drive the growth of the UCI Track World Cup to a series of up to eight events each year.

Support the further development of all our disciplines in their brilliant diversity - cyclo-cross, mountain bike BMX, trials and indoor cycling

I am going to help National Federations and Continental Confederations with dedicated UCI resources to develop MTB and BMX, both highly accessible disciplines. The UCI Urban Cycling World Championships will be a great advertisement for this, and I will continue to build on the growing success of off-road cycling disciplines.

Secure the position of men’s professional cycling among the world’s top sports

Elite men’s cycling has continued to grow and the changes made in the last four years have, overall, helped its development. Balancing the needs of all the stakeholders is not easy but in my second term I will continue to develop a more sustainable structure, ensuring professional road cycling’s place among the world’s top sporting attractions.

Reinforcing the development pathways of road cycling through the tiers of the continental calendars

While developing new opportunities worldwide, it is also of course vital to both strengthen the traditional strongholds of elite road racing, and reinforce the development pathways through the tiers of the continental calendars for both events and teams. I will ensure the continental calendars are respected and developed in line with regional characteristics and requirements.

Further develop para-cycling with an emphasis on broadening the competition pyramid

Our focus on para-cycling has started to bear fruit, for example with the live-streaming of the UCI Para-cycling World Championships. But the pyramid must be built further, and I will also be working closely with the International Paralympic Committee on this. The project we have planned to re-launch our classification management system will provide a vital tool to accomplish this goal.

2. Accelerate international development

Brian Cookson at the African Continental Championships 2017

Continue to increase investment in our continental confederations and national federations

I will use the UCI’s improved financial strength and increasing revenue to help drive national federation and continental confederation development. There are clear needs such as an increased investment in the training and development of international commissaires, and the benefits of our knowledge sharing events which I am committed to ensure are held on every continent, every year. In addition I will work hard to ensure we understand the priorities of our national federations and how best we can support them in the achievement of their goals

Higher targets for athlete participation and coach education at the UCI World Cycling Centre

We have dedicated more funding than ever to the UCI World Cycling Centre, and I want us to set more stretching targets for athlete participation to athletes from all nations able to achieve their full potential. I want to see more coaches from around the world coming to Aigle to improve their knowledge and skills.

Increase the number of UCI WCC Satellite Centres, with the aim of at least one in each sub-continent or region

The UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) must continue to grow globally, not only in Aigle. Our fourth UCI WCC satellite centre opened in India in 2015, and our innovative partnership with Wanda is opening the way to a new UCI WCC satellite to open in China. But we have only just begun to identify the huge potential of talented but undiscovered bike riders from around the world. I therefore aim to have at least one UCI WCC satellite centre on every sub-continent or continental region before the completion of my second term.

Spread the hosting of UCI events, strategically, across the world

Being the host of a UCI event is a powerful way to bring the cycling family to countries on every continent, and while respecting the heritage of our sport in different regions I will look to increase the global reach of UCI World Championships and UCI World Cups. Great progress has been made in ensuring that our competition formats and business models allow for such long term development of UCI events across the world, and I will make sure this strategy continues.

3. Equal opportunity for women

Provide guidance and a model womens’ strategy that all national federations will be encouraged to adopt

Progress starts with getting the strategy in place, and we have started to measure the number of national federations with specific womens’ cycling strategies in place. My ambition is over the course of the next four years to help at least 75% of our member national federations adopt a specific womens’ cycling strategy.

Continue the policy adopted in my first term of increasing the number of women in leadership positions across the UCI

We will be measuring the representation of women across UCI governance structures, developing the policy adopted in my first term of increasing the number of women in leadership positions across UCI bodies, with the Women’s Commission leading and at least one woman on every specialist Commission.

Develop the UCI Women’s WorldTour to commercial sustainability

The introduction of the UCI Women’s WorldTour has been a great success, but we are still in the early stages of its development. In the next term my aim is to achieve the commercial sustainability of the series. The UCI Women’s WorldTour brings together the work of many stakeholders in developing this discipline at the professional level, and the UCI has sought to provide leadership and investment in guiding its development. However, despite this significant progress, we still have much to do to make this discipline commercially sustainable in which athletes, teams and organisers can flourish, and with a platform now in place we will drive this agenda in the years to come.

Double the number of women participating in UCI training and development courses

Our work to support the overall pyramid of women’s cycling must also continue. We have put in place women’s Sport Director course scholarships, as well as dramatically increasing the proportion of women in our stagiaire intakes attending the WCC. This work goes hand in hand with other initiatives such as the establishment of the U23 category and the UCI Women’s Junior Nations Cup.

Establish a permanent UCI WCC Women’s Team

In 2016 we invested in the establishment of a road team of talented women athletes from around the world. I will make this a permanent part of our WCC programme, and additionally roll this out to other disciplines.

4. Champion cycling for transport and leisure

Put everyday cycling at the heart of UCI World Championship and Olympic host and candidate cities

We have a unique position from which to promote everyday cycling. As part of the Olympic family we will further engage with the IOC to develop the IOC sustainability strategy. In particular this will focus on the cycling promotion strategies of UCI World Championship and Olympic host and candidate cities, such as through bike sharing schemes and cycle lanes. We have already made a start with Tokyo 2020, and through adding to the UCI’s own dedicated resources.

Continue our work to promote cycling as a means of transport, for its health and environmental benefits and as an answer to many of the problems of developed and developing nations

There are many advocates of cycling and, under my leadership, the UCI will take an active role in mobilising the stars of the sport to add their voice and influence as ambassadors for everyday cycling. The work of groups such as the ECF in Europe and People for Bikes in the USA is of vital importance, and my team will continue to work with these and other groups. Our voice needs to be heard at a worldwide level. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved with cycling as a key policy lever, enabling sustainable cities to become a reality.

Support national federations and continental confederations in the development and implementation of best practice to drive everyday cycling

We will identify global best practices to support continental confederations and national federations in developing everyday cycling across the world. Our commitment starts at home, and I will ensure that our headquarters develop into the most bike-friendly working environment, with excellent bike connections to the town centre, and we will showcase the UCI World Cycling Centre as the home of cycling, with support of local government and local institutions. We will also shortly become part of a new regional bike share scheme, and will also be expanding the work we do with school programmes.

Establish more UCI Bike Cities and Bike Regions around the world

I am pleased that the UCI Bike City label is again now highly sought after with, in the last twelve months, three UCI Bike City labels awarded to recognise and encourage cities and regions that show commitment to both the sport and everyday cycling. Looking ahead I will ensure we target three more UCI Bike Cities every year.

5. Excellence in our operations and leading by example

Brian Cookson at the UCI Road World Championships 2016

Establish a new medium term financial plan and targets for investment

The UCI is in a stronger financial and operational position than ever. We have exceeded, in 2017, the target of CHF 20 million of reserves set by the “20 by 2020” plan. Looking ahead, the strength of our commercial programme gives me the confidence that we should now establish a new set of medium term financial targets, maintaining our stability while ensuring capital is available for investment across the world.

Transform our IT platform with the roll-out of UCI Dataride

I am proud of the operational efficiency achieved by my administration. We continue to improve systems and processes, and in the coming year we will launch what will be a transformation of our management of data for race, rider and licence information. This will bring great efficiencies to the daily operations of cycling, enabling future innovation. This project is known as UCI Dataride, and will establish the UCI as the benchmark among international federations for our IT systems.

Build multi-year partnerships for our event hosts

Our improved bidding process for major UCI events has led to more interest than ever in hosting UCI events; at the UCI Congress in 2016 we were able to award more UCI World Championships hosts than had ever previously been achieved. Looking ahead we want to improve further in this area, including making multi-year awards for some of our portfolio of events, to improve planning visibility for both hosts and the UCI.

Bring our events to ever bigger audiences across all forms of media

I am delighted that our new agreement with EBU and IMG is bringing UCI’s events to ever increasing broadcast audiences. But it’s important that we look also to new forms of media and communication with cycling fans and audiences. That’s why we have developed the UCI’s digital platforms which now have some two million followers from almost a standing start, and why continuing to be at the forefront of emerging technologies is so important. I’ll make sure that we continue to build on that great progress.

6. Relentlessly work to maintain the restored credibility in the sport and the UCI

Ensure our commitment to clean sport remains a top priority and is properly funded with a best in class structure

Restoring credibility – of our sport and of the UCI – was at the core of my commitment to you in 2013. Together we have achieved a great deal, and in this area my commitment remains unwavering. Having now established an independent anti-doping structure that is regarded by WADA and others as the model for international federations, I am committed to ensuring that our efforts in this area continue to be both properly funded and remain best in class.

Continue to set ourselves the highest standards of governance

We must constantly strive to govern our sport with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. The UCI now has a modern and stringent ethics code, the application of which is under the purview of the ethics commission. This commission is composed in the majority by representatives entirely independent of the UCI. Many will remember the chaotic scenes during the election process at our 2013 congress. As part of our governance reforms, this upcoming election will be the first to take place under the revised guidelines I am proud we have put in place. We have also revitalised the athlete’s commission, whose members are now directly elected by the athletes themselves, and now form a key part of the overall governance structure of the UCI.

Further invest in our work against technological fraud

I introduced rules against technological fraud, and sanctions appropriate to this type of cheating. Previously the UCI rules did not properly address this risk, the penalties envisaged were minimal, and there was no real system of checking for violations. We will continue to review and update our work and detection methods and extend this know-how across national federations.

Act decisively through our regulatory function to govern the sport, and improve security and safety

I will review and modernise our technical regulations and ensure their implementation is effective, consistent and equitable worldwide through better resourced training and education of our technical officials. Where new technology emerges, I will work with all our stakeholders to ensure a balanced approach to its introduction and regulation. Most importantly, in the crucial area of security, welfare and safety, I will build on the initiatives we have taken on race security, conduct in the race caravan, and measures around extreme weather conditions, to ensure that events in all disciplines comply with the highest possible standards.