ARZON, France: Cycling’s world governing body UCI has approved Agenda 2022, a strategic road map for the next four years that includes a number of important structural initiatives concerning the future of the federation and the sport, most notably with regards to the role of women.
The five areas identified in Agenda 2022 are:
· Strengthen the UCI’s authority with a president ensuring a solid leadership;
· Place the UCI increasingly at the service of national federations;
· Make cycling the sport of the 21st Century;
· Develop an ambitious vision for professional cycling;
· Ensure the credibility of sporting results and protect the athletes.
The Agenda 2022 will be published on the UCI website after its ratification by the congress on September 28.
Concerning the place of women in cycling, it was decided that from the 2019 season onwards, all employees of UCI Women’s Teams will be required to sign a strict code of conduct that aims to raise awareness of and increase responsibility around the harassment that certain riders may face, including from within their own teams. Once it has been signed, this document must be sent to the UCI along with the team’s registration documents. Failure to respect the code of conduct will result in sanctions being applied, in accordance with the UCI code of ethics.
Among the measures being developed under the charter to promote gender equality is the creation of a gender equality policy within the UCI administration, which will form an integral part of the staff regulations and will also be available on the website. The aim of this policy is to guarantee equal, respectful and fair treatment for everyone, particularly with regards to recruitment, and ensuring that men and women are given the same professional opportunities. The charter also contains the fundamental principles according to which the UCI wishes to implement equal pay.
In this regard, the 2017 UCI annual report, which was approved by the management committee during its three-day meeting here, provides comparative male/female average remuneration – a first for an international sports federation – as an example of the UCI’s commitment to achieving equal treatment for women in all areas of the sport, from the athletes to administration staff.
The audited financial statements show that the UCI’s consolidated reserves stand at 52.9 million Swiss Francs (including the velodrome and the UCI’s office which are valued at CHF 25 million).
With regards to the UCI World Championships, several measures designed to guarantee gender equality during podium ceremonies were approved. This policy, which notably requires UCI approval for all outfits worn by hosts and hostesses, or an equal representation of the two genders in these roles, will form part of the UCI World Championships Organisation Guides, and will come into effect from the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck-Tirol (Austria).
The management committee also approved the distribution by the UCI of equal prize money for men and women in the different overall standings of the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. This decision means that perfect gender parity in prize money paid by the UCI has now been reached across all disciplines and all UCI competitions. It was also decided that prize money paid by organisers of the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup will gradually increase over three seasons, starting in 2019/2020, so as to reach perfect parity in 2021/2022. Finally, the decision was taken to add a women junior (age 17-18) category to the World Cup programme, beginning from the 2020/2021 season, i.e. following the introduction of the same category in the discipline’s 2020 World Championships to be held in Dübendorf (Switzerland).
Purely on the sporting side, the establishment of one event bringing together the World Championships for several disciplines has been approved.
For the first time in the history of cycling, this event will bring the World Championships for several disciplines together in one region, as part of a festival of cycling lasting between 17 and 19 days. To be held every four years, in each pre-Olympic year starting from 2023, this UCI event will bring together the following World Championships: Road, Mountain Bike (cross-country Olympic, cross-country Marathon and downhill), Track, BMX Racing, Urban Cycling (BMX Freestyle Park, trials and mountain bike Eliminator), Para-cycling Road, Para-cycling Track, Indoor Cycling (artistic cycling and cycle-ball) and Gran Fondo.
Preliminary studies suggest the event would attract no fewer than 120 participating countries, 2,600 elite athletes, 6,000 amateurs and 10,000 accredited individuals, including 700 journalists. This event will bring elite and amateur athletes together thanks to the Gran Fondo and BMX World Challenge events, as well as the mass start events on the road and in the mountain bike Marathon. The event will represent a unique platform of exposure for cycling’s different disciplines. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch several UCI World Championships in the same geographical area, thus limiting their costs and allowing them to discover new disciplines. The host city will have the opportunity to become the true capital of cycling for almost three weeks, using its existing infrastructure. It will also be able to showcase its city centre, where it can hold competitions for disciplines such as trials or BMX Freestyle Park.
UCI president David Lappartient said: “I am very happy with the approval of Agenda 2022 by the UCI Management Committee, which contributed to its creation. Based on the programme “Our Passion” which I championed last year during the presidential campaign, this document will now serve as a plan of action for the UCI administration during the four coming years.
“It contains crucial initiatives for guaranteeing equality between men and women, whether they be riders, Federation employees or any other women involved in our sport. It is essential that we all work together for this cause, which is one of my biggest priorities for action.
“This document also contains a totally new concept: one event bringing together several UCI World Championships in the same place, at the same time, as part of a festival of cycling that already sounds fantastic.”
Additionally, following nearly three years of tests, and in agreement with various stakeholders – teams, riders, mechanics, fans, commissaires, and the bicycle industry via the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFGSGI) – the decision has been taken to authorise disc brakes for road and BMX Racing, as of 1st July this year. Point 1.3.025 of the UCI Regulations will be amended to this effect, to allow the use of disc brakes during training and competitions for road and BMX Racing, as is already the case for cyclo-cross, mountain bike, trials and mass participation events.
The committee also awarded the Junior Track Cycling World Championships to Frankfurt on the Oder (Germany) in 2019, and Cairo (Egypt) in 2020.
Finally, the competition formats for BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle Park at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were approved.
