UCI comments on positive stats in second annual meeting

 The Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale gathered in Copenhagen for its second annual meeting of 2017.

Members approved the 2016 UCI Annual Report, which outlines the significant progress achieved by the federation over the past 12 months. Building on the UCI’s commitment to be a leader in transparency, these accounts provide comprehensive analysis of the UCI’s operations and performance over the year. In addition to the income from Rio 2016, an positive year for its commercial activities means the UCI is in its strongest ever financial position.

As a consequence of this positive financial situation, the UCI Management Committee has agreed to implement a Participation Aid Programme to support less wealthy National Federations. The objective of this fund is to promote women’s participation and support nations who would otherwise not be able to travel to UCI World Championships.

With record numbers of nations participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, nearly 100 per cent tickets sold for all sessions, TV viewership and a boost to UCI’s global social media fan base – the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were a success for the organisation. The Paralympics followed that success with over 85 per cent of tickets sold and a ten per cent increase in its Twitter following in just ten days.

Following recent confirmation that there will be four new Olympic cycling medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – with the introduction of the Madison and BMX Freestyle – cycling is now the third largest sport in the Olympics, both in terms of medals and athlete quota.