FFC General Assembly

Press release French Cycling Federation

FFC GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

The elective general assembly of the French Cycling Federation was held this Saturday, February 23 at the headquarters of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) in Paris, in the presence of François ALAPHILIPPE, Daniel BAAL and Jean PITALLIER, Honorary Presidents of the FFC.

President since February 28, 2009 and reappointed for a 4-year term, David LAPPARTIENT welcomed 300 delegates, including 161 elected delegates (carrying a total of 1734 votes), representative of the regional and departmental committee associations of Metropolitan France and overseas.

The various speakers drew up a moral, financial, sporting and health assessment of the institution. The Secretary General particularly highlighted the significant increase in numbers: a new historic record with 115.863 licensees and an increase of 3% compared to 2011 (increase of 3.361 licenses) and 12,41% since the start of the mandate (in February 2009). The moral report presented by Patrice ROY was adopted unanimously.

The Treasurer General placed emphasis on rigor, which once again governed the good management of federal finances during the past financial year. Pierre POUYET successively presented the financial report for the previous financial year and the forecast budget for the 2013 financial year. The financial year ending October 31, 2012 presents a positive result of €17.129 for a budget achievement of €16.146.200. After certification by Mr. Christian ANTOUNE, auditor, that the figures presented faithfully reflected the financial situation and the annual accounts of the FFC, the financial report and these accounts were adopted unanimously.

The draft budget for the 2012-2013 financial year, presented by Pierre POUYET, with a balanced income and expense account of €15.639.100 was adopted unanimously.

Armand MEGRET endeavored, once again, to highlight the merits of regulatory medical surveillance, established at the end of 1998 and constantly improved over the years. During 2012, more than 3.000 biological assessments were carried out on a population of 1.201 athletes. The federal doctor also recalled that the results of these biological examinations may give rise to decisions of temporary contraindication to the practice of cycling.

After discussing a rich track record of 57 world and European podiums, Isabelle GAUTHERON provided an overview of the federal training and structuring actions put in place.

Hubert LOUVET, on behalf of the LNC and in representation of Marc MADIOT, its President, particularly insisted on the good health of professional structures, respect for ethics, solidarity between FFC, LNC and MPCC (Movement for credible cycling ). He also called for close collaboration between the AFLD (French Anti-Doping Agency) and the International Cycling Union: “Since the start of the Armstrong affair, we have gone from meeting to meeting, from commission to commission to observe To date, no strong measures have been taken to avoid finding ourselves in the same situation over the coming months. Today the question of the governance of our sport clearly arises. »

The transfer of the head office from Rosny-sous-Bois to Montigny-le-Bretonneux (location of the future National Cycling Center on the territory of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines agglomeration community) was unanimously adopted . The same was true of the tripartite agreement established between the FFC, the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines urban community and “Vélopolis”, the synallagmatic promise of sale, the agreement for the provision of premises.

On a decision taken unanimously, the general meeting also gave a mandate to the President by granting him all the powers to put up for sale and ensure the transfer of the current head office, located at 5 rue de Rome in Rosny-sous- Drink.

The only candidate to succeed him, David LAPPARTIENT was brilliantly re-elected (86,89% of the votes cast). Out of 1686 votes cast (6 blanks and 12 invalid votes), 1465 were for, 221 were against.

Immediately after the renewal of his mandate, David LAPPARTIENT presented his proposal for the constitution of the Executive Bureau, composed as follows: Patrice ROY, Pierre POUYET, Michel BERGEAT, Henri LAFARGUE, Laurence LEBOUCHER, Ludovic SYLVESTRE, Sylvain DUPLOYER, Eric JACOTE.

Out of 1673 valid votes cast (33 blanks and 18 invalid votes), 925 were for (55,29% of votes cast), 748 were against (44,71% of votes cast). The proposed members were therefore elected.

In accordance with the statutes, club delegates were called upon to elect the 32 members of the Federal Council. The following results were recorded:

General College: out of 1716 votes, 1637 votes were validly cast (73 invalid, 6 blank).

Representatives of the professional sector: out of 1716 votes, 1651 votes were validly cast (65 blanks).

“Leisure” college: out of 1716 votes, 1539 votes were cast (177 blanks).

“Medical” college: out of 1716 votes, 1625 votes were cast (91 blanks).

MTB college: out of 1716 votes, 1602 votes were cast (0 draws, 114 blanks).

BMX College: out of 1716 votes, 1652 votes were cast (49 invalid, 15 blank).

In his closing speech, David LAPPARTIENT stated in particular: “The “For a conquering French cycling” project will constitute the basis of my commitments. ". He also focused on the Olympic title obtained by Julie BRESSET (cross-country mountain biking) and the excellent results recorded in the Tour de France by Thomas VOECKLER (two stage victories and ranking of the best climber), Thibaut PINOT and Pierre ROLLAND. As part of the priorities of this mandate which is beginning, the development plan for women's cycling was presented as a necessity. Adopted in 2012, it will be piloted by Laurence LEBOUCHER.

Regarding the future National Cycling Center of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the President did not fail to highlight its many features. “No federation in the world will be able to boast such equipment. They will undoubtedly place the French Cycling Federation on the path to sporting excellence.” Continuing with the course of sporting excellence, he clearly displayed the ambitions: “To be the first nation in the world in all cycling disciplines combined. To do this, we can rely on exceptional athletes, experienced technical executives and quality structures.(…) It is therefore necessary to rethink our model by providing the means to our high level. I hope that a new National Technical Director can be appointed quickly and that, in partnership, we can develop a new path to sporting excellence which must take into account several objectives:

-          Increase the competitiveness of French cycling.

-          Rationalize our operations taking into account reductions in state subsidies.

-          Allow our best athletes to make a living from their sport.

-          Develop our research programs in all areas.

-          Train our coaches in modern technologies.

-          Develop partnerships that help improve performance.

Thus, the board of directors of the French Cycling Federation adopted a revolutionary project, during its last meeting, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of our national cycling. The ambition is to obtain the means to implement our course of sporting excellence. Thus, we will create a mixed multidisciplinary professional team. It is a unique project in the world with 60 athletes under contract and a company of 100 people. To do this, a budget of more than €20 million must be raised. »

Anti-doping actions also took pride of place in David LAPPARTIENT’s closing speech: “Recent news unfortunately reminds us that the fight against doping is a constant battle. Obviously, not everyone has understood the message yet. The Armstrong affair was a real explosion that we expected but whose consequences are catastrophic for the credibility of our sport. (…) We therefore need strong measures and those proposed by our Board of Directors as part of the contribution: “Organization of Cycling, a necessary revolution” go in this direction. We offer several measures:

-          Generalization of the Organic passport to all professional runners.

-          Evolution of the World Anti-Doping Code to increase sanctions in the event of heavy products by increasing the suspension to 4 years for the first offense and to life for the second offense.

-          Implementation of independent regulatory medical monitoring for all professional runners.

-          Payment of doping-related fines from the teams' bank deposit.

-          Ban on supervising teams for people convicted of doping after a date to be determined.

The French Cycling Federation is at the forefront of the fight against doping and I intend to continue the work started with strength and conviction by my predecessors. I also cannot fail to associate Armand MEGRET and Alain CALVEZ with this important daily work. By objectively analyzing the situation, we can conclude that cycling has, much more than other sports, been able to fight doping more effectively. We know that cheaters are still present in the peloton, but there are far fewer of them than before. »

The FFC gold medal, the highest federal distinction, was awarded to particularly deserving leaders: Ms. Isabelle GAUTHERON, MM. Robert PERBOIRE, Kléber GUERY, Marcel LANGUILLE, Alain PRADIER, Max CARCY.

Ophélie AMBROISE is the fourth winner of the Julien DITLECADET Trophy, rewarding an exceptional young manager under 30 years old.