The score is perplexing. 37 – 8. More than 80% of the votes. Opposed to the outgoing Briton Brian Cookson, David Lappartient took over the presidency of the International Cycling Union on Thursday September 21 in Bergen, Norway, without even needing to start the sprint. The Frenchman summed it up after the vote count: “Having 37 votes out of the 45 voting delegates is a very clear result, not a photo finish.” The victory of a breakaway, who left at the right time, never caught up. Crystal clear. Bluffing.
In Bergen, rumors were rife announcing a close vote and an undecided race. In Lima, a week earlier, Brian Cookson had assured FrancsJeux be able to count on around thirty votes. David Lappartient, more cautious, was careful not to put forward a figure, but he also showed his confidence. On arrival, the decision came down to a knockout.
At 66 years old, Brian Cookson cruelly enters the history of the UCI as the first president confined to a single mandate. The Briton nevertheless presented a very respectable record. His four years at the head of cycling have put the discipline back on straighter rails. He seriously and diligently respected the main lines of his candidate program, developing women's cycling, contributing to the universalization of the sport, strengthening its presence at the Olympic Games. But he was swept away like dust by the Lappartient storm. Explanations.
A finely managed campaign. David Lappartient left long after his British rival. He waited until the last moment to announce his candidacy, suggesting that he would wait until the next election, scheduled for 2021. According to information from Libération, he hesitated between sport and politics, hoping for a position as Minister of Sports in the event that Nicolas Sarkozy finds his place at the Elysée.
But, once launched, the Frenchman led his boat with great skill, helped by his campaign director, Marjorie Guillaume. He focused on lampooning Brian Cookson in small touches, without falling into misplaced aggression, attacking him on technological doping and the necessary reform of professional cycling, two subjects on which the Frenchman considers his rival too timid, even wait-and-see. .
Above all, David Lappartient promised to put the elected officials back, starting with himself, at the head of the procession. He tirelessly hammered home his criticism of a UCI abandoned by Brian Cookson to his administration, partly British. In his sights, two lawyers from the Rothschild bank, Justin Abbott and Martin Gibbs, recruited by Cookson, presented by Lappartient as the two real decision-makers within the organization.
Barely elected, Thursday September 21, David Lappartient insisted: “The voters had the feeling that they had elected a president four years ago and that it was not him who led the UCI, whatever his qualities and his passion for cycling. There was a very strong message: we want a president who is a boss, who listens to us, who is at our service. Let the UCI be turned towards those who are its members, the national federations. »
A wind of renewal. Brian Cookson confesses to 66 years. David Lappartient is only 44. The first had difficulty, despite his promises, embodying the future. The second took full advantage of the urgency of the international sports movement to review its governance, regain credit and sweep away the past. At a time when corruption cases no longer leave the shadows of the IOC, the IAAF and FIFA, to name only the most prominent, it is not uninteresting for the UCI to demonstrate in broad daylight his ability to play the youth card. Certainly, the integrity of Brian Cookson has never been in doubt, but the David Lappartient card may prove to be a better choice for an institution seeking credibility.
Did it benefit from the Paris 2024 effect? The person concerned suggested it upon his election: “France won the Olympics, Jean-Christophe Rolland has just joined the International Olympic Committee, I am taking over the presidency of the UCI. It is also the symbol of France which is winning and it is this France that we want to see. " Maybe. Not sure. Remember that last week, in Lima, Paris won the 2024 Games after a double award with no losers, and that Jean-Christophe was elected by the members of the IOC during a session where all proposed new names were accepted.
Nevertheless, David Lappartient's victory reverses the spiral of a French sporting movement marked by the successive failures of its last three leaders who were candidates for the presidency of an international Olympic federation: Pierre Durand in equestrian, Georges Guelzec in gymnastics, Didier Gailhaguet in skating.
