UCI President Pat McQuaid Unveils Re-Election Manifesto

UCI President Pat McQuaid has today launched his campaign to be re-elected to a third term as head of cycling’s International Federation.

McQuaid unveiled his manifesto ‘A Bright Future for a Changed Sport’ which sets out an ambitious agenda to build upon his record of cleaning up cycling and globalising the sport.

"I am delighted to launch my re-election campaign and to present my vision for cycling’s future to the cycling family whose support over the past eight years has enabled me to transform our sport," said McQuaid.

"Cycling has changed since I was first elected as UCI President in 2005. It is now a global sport. It is now possible to race and win clean. We have travelled a great distance together and we must never turn back from cycling’s bright future," he added.

McQuaid’s manifesto sets out four priorities for the next four years:

· To preserve the new culture and era of clean cycling

· To ensure equality in cycling through the development of women’s cycling

· To modernise the way that cycling is presented as a global sport

· To foster the global development of cycling

"My mission now is to preserve the changed culture within the peloton and team entourage. I have introduced the most sophisticated and effective anti-doping infrastructure in world sport to cycling. Our sport is leading the way and I am proud that other sports are following in its footsteps.

"The UCI now invests over $7.5 million a year to keep our sport clean and to catch and prosecute those riders who refuse to embrace the new culture of clean cycling. The misdeeds of a few should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of cycling or today’s riders," he said.

McQuaid’s manifesto proposes a series of initiatives to preserve the new culture and era of clean cycling, including:

· Increasing the independence of the UCI’s Cycling Anti Doping Foundation (CADF). Completing the process to appoint an independent board and locating the CADF outside of the UCI

· Increasing UCI World Tour teams’ contributions to anti-doping to fund and increase the independence of the CADF

· Establishing an independent audit of the UCI’s actions during the years when Lance Armstrong was winning the Tour de France

McQuaid has also committed to separating women’s cycling from the UCI Road Commission and to establishing an independent UCI Women’s Commission with responsibility for developing all disciplines of women’s cycling.

"I will bring a new focus to the development of women’s cycling. It is not acceptable that women in cycling do not receive the same pay, prize money and conditions as men. It is past time for this inequality to be brought to an end," he said.

McQuaid has also proposed and committed himself to:

· Developing a new global women’s elite race calendar that is easy to understand

· Seeking to ensure that events and teams seeking World Tour status are given priority if events have a women’s race and team’s have a women’s team

· Encouraging more women to hold decision-making positions in cycling

In setting out his agenda to modernise the way that cycling is presented as a global sport, McQuaid made it clear that he is opposed the establishment of private leagues or a World Championship series in cycling.

"The greatest cycling races on the global stage have been fought out in Europe for generations. Their place on the cycling calendar should never be sidelined or replaced by a so called ‘Champions League of Cycling’ which does nothing to promote the global development of our sport" he said.

McQuaid proposes reforms under six key headings to modernise the sport including:

· Working with stakeholders to re-organise the existing race calendar to promote the ideal of "the best riders in the best races"

· Reforming the system that allocates and distributes UCI World Tour points

· Introducing cameras on bikes and helmets, introducing GPS rider tracking and communicating real time data for race fans

Fostering the global development of cycling is the fourth pillar of McQuaid’s manifesto. The UCI World Tour peloton is now made up of riders representing 44 countries, whilst the number of races and teams competing across all five UCI continents has increased significantly. New proposals and reforms include:

· Developing a long-term strategic plan and vision to globalise the sport

· Expanding the UCI’s Continental and National Federations Department to support confederations in professionalising their administration and marketing

· Expanding the role and activities of the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland as a ‘University of Cycling’

McQuaid also underlined the fact that cycling’s national federations depend upon the sport’s position as a ‘core sport’ in the Olympic and Paralympic Games to secure funding from their respective Governments.

He described his position as an IOC member as an asset to cycling and made it clear that cycling would lose its IOC member and his voice and influence in successfully resisting calls for cycling to be dropped from the Olympic programme were he not be re-elected as UCI President.

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