January 30/15 13:34 pm - UCI Announces Cyclo-cross World Cup in Montreal

Posted by Editor on 01/30/15
 

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Management Committee met on Friday in Tábor (Czech Republic), Host City of the 2015 UCI Cyclocross World Championships. 227 riders coming from 24 countries will take part in these 2015 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.

The Management Committee agreed a raft of important decisions which demonstrate the significant progress being achieved by the UCI in rebuilding trust, embracing innovation and building cycling globally.

The UCI Management Committee agreed the following:

• A Women's Youth category (17-22 years old) will be added to the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships programme. In addition, the first two rounds of the 2015-16 Cyclocross World Cup calendar will be held in North America (Las Vegas then Montreal) for the first time, demonstrating the discipline's growth in this vital territory;  [Editor's Note:  Actual dates have not been announced, but the provisional calendar has the second World Cup on October 25th.  However, if the first one in Las Vegas is going to be CrossVegas (as is most likely), then that would put it on the weekend of September 16-18, and Montreal a week later.  This is VERY early, and would conflict with the Road Worlds in Richmond, Virginia, so it's anyone's guess as to when the races will actually take place...]

• The granting of provisional membership to the Kosovo Cycling Federation, following the decision at the 127th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in December 2014 to fully recognize the Kosovo Olympic Committee. Provisional membership will enable Kosovo to participate in UCI activities while awaiting a decision on its full membership request which will be considered at the 2015 UCI Congress in September;

• The revamp of the UCI's visual identity and its events, which will be implemented in partnership with leading European based branding agency SomeOne;

• The closure of Global Cycling Promotion (GCP) following a full review and the end of the Tour of Beijing.

Following the UCI Management Committee, UCI President Brian Cookson said "There has been a huge amount of progress across UCI operations in recent months and I would like to thank all my colleagues for their huge efforts and focus to drive our organization forwards. I believe the breadth of decisions taken today by the UCI Management Committee demonstrates this progress, our willingness to embrace innovation to help grow all disciplines of our sport and the increasing commercial and broadcast interest in cycling."

"After the 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Louisville, we look forward to another milestone for this exciting discipline thanks to our first ever World Cup rounds to be held in North America. Las Vegas will provide a spectacular backdrop to the opening round of the 2015-2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. With the second round of the 2015-2016 Cyclo-cross World Cup taking place in Montreal, Canada, our leading cyclo-cross series is definitely making a big push in North America."

"I'm delighted also that the UCI Management Committee reaffirmed the UCI's renewed focus to work in an advocacy capacity, in particular with host cities, to create tangible legacies around children and cycling, cycling infrastructure and greater road safety awareness."

In addition, the UCI Management Committee also approved Stuttgart as Host City of the 2016 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships.

To build on the success in women's cycling in 2014, where the UCI invested significantly in TV production for the UCI Women Road World Cup, the UCI Management Committee confirmed its support for continued investment in 2015. The number of women's teams already registered to compete in the UCI Women Road World Cup in 2015 is currently 38 - an increase of 22% over 2014.

Following the recent death of Peder Pedersen, the UCI Management Committee agreed that Mr. Marian Stetina will become the President of the UCI Track Commission and Mr. Artur Lopes, President of the UCI Anti-Doping Commission.

The next UCI Management Committee will take place in June in Lausanne, Switzerland.