British Cycling (BC) President Brian Cookson is set to officially announce his candidacy for the Presidency of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the Daily Telegraph reports. The 61-year-old Lancastrian, who has headed BC unpaid since being part of the committee that saved it from insolvency in 1996, has reportedly been nominated by the British federation, and is so far the only person to be named as opposition to incumbent Pat McQuaid.
Cookson is credited with turning around the sport of cycling in the UK, which has seen the previously minor nation dominate in the both the Olympic and World velodromes, as well as win the Tour de France for the first time, through Bradley Wiggins, at the head of a British team in 2012.
A member of the UCI Management Committee since 2009, Cookson was president of the Cyclocross Commission from 2009 to 2011, and has headed up the Road Commission since then.
So far Cookson’s is the only name to have been listed as standing as a possible opponent to McQuaid, whose own nomination for a third four-year term has been beset with controversy. Initially approved by the board of Cycling Ireland (CI), McQuaid’s nomination was then referred to an Extraordinary General Meeting to allow CI’s member clubs to have their say; the Irishman then appeared to have sidestepped this, however, by securing nomination from the national federation in Switzerland, Swiss Cycling, where he is resident.
The legality of this nomination has been called into question, however, since it appears to overrule the decision of another federation, which contravenes article 11.2 of the UCI’s own constitution.
Whether or not he does manage to secure nomination for a third term, however, McQuaid now appears to have some opposition. The various different anti-McQuaid groups in the sport - who have been missing a candidate of their own until now - will likely throw their support behind Cookson’s campaign since he has maintained an anti-doping stance throughout his tenure at BC, and is untainted by the Lance Armstrong era that draws its shadow across McQuaid.