Mike Plant has been selected by newly elected International Cycling Union (UCI) President Brian Cookson, and the UCI Management Committee, to be the new President of the UCI Cyclocross Commission. The American’s appointment, which sees him replace Czech Marian Stetina, “serves as a testament to how cyclocross has grown in the U.S. and the country’s role and influence in cyclocross worldwide,” according to USA Cycling.
“I am honoured and excited to be selected as president of the UCI Cyclocross Commission,” said Plant. “Cyclocross has grown dramatically in the U.S. over the past five years and in 2013 we were honoured to host in the U.S. the first Cyclocross World Championships held outside of Europe.”
The four member Commission also included American Geoff Proctor, Swiss Beat Wabel and Belgian World champion Sven Nys in 2013, but it is not yet clear whether this is set to change for next year.
Former Olympic speedskater Plant has served on boards of administration in several different sports, and is currently executive vice-president of business operations for the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team, and president of the board of directors of US Speedskating. He was also recently re-elected to serve another four-year term on the UCI Management Committee.
Recently, the 54-year-old was in the headlines after he was one of the co-authors - along with Russian Igor Makarov - of a controversial dossier that allegedly detailed wrongdoing by recently deposed UCI president Pat McQuaid while in office. The American, who was consequently a big supporter of Cookson in his presidential election campaign, declared that he would step down from his role in cycling if the McQuaid was returned for a third term.