Cookson

Meet The New Boss

In cycling we’re used to riders losing out by a few seconds, to be defeated often means losing out by a few metres or a handful of seconds after hours or even weeks of racing. But in the world of sports admin Brian Cookson has been ejected from his incumbent role of UCI President by a massive margin. The UCI Congress elected David Lappartient as the new President by 37 votes to 8, a count that shows backing from every UCI confederation. Here’s a look at what lost it for Cookson and why the election doesn’t signal much change.

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UCI Reforms Approved

The UCI has approved its own reforms to men’s pro cycling. In a press release issued in the middle of the women’s time trial race yesterday it announced several changes to the World Tour regarding team licences, the calendar and the rankings.

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The UCI Presidency After One Year

A year ago this week Brian Cookson was elected president in a contest that was close and at times bitter. Today the role of the UCI President is barely a talking point. Still as the sport’s top official Cookson’s role matters.

Feargal McKay has done a good job for cyclingnews.com reviewing Brian Cookson’s manifesto pledges to see what’s happened since. Bear in mind these pledges are ongoing, there was no commitment to achieve everything by now but it allows us to see the direction of travel. With this in mind, let’s take a wider look at the cultural and managerial changes.

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Cookson’s 100 Days

It might be round number from the decimal system but over the years various political administrations and managerial careers have been reviewed after just 100 days. In this spirit it was 100 days ago that Brian Cookson rode the train from Florence to Aigle to start work as UCI President. What’s happened and what’s next?

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Cookson’s Roadmap

Aigle, Switzerland

Brian Cookson could be forgiven for the distractions. As the vineyards around Aigle see the leaves turn and the autumn sun illuminates the Alpine peaks, the temptation to head outdoors and explore his new roads around the UCI’s Swiss HQ must be real.

But it seems the new UCI President’s been busy or at least giving the impression of activity. One basic rule of corporate communications is to say what you’re going to do, tell people when you’re doing it and once you’ve done it let everyone know you’ve finished the job. In this spirit this blog post will look at the UCI’s announcement yesterday and see what its doing and where it’s going.

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Over To You Brian

The UCI’s Congress met today in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio to pick a President. It chose Brian Cookson by 24 votes to 18.

If attendees wanted a clue to the direction of events, they needed only to check their tourist guides as the palace was once the workplace of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince and probably the world’s greatest political schemer. However the procedure lacked finesse and with the world watching the meeting turned into a farce.

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