Latest news with #DavidLappartient
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Track Champions League scrapped after four years
Track cycling's Champions League has been scrapped four years after its launch. Established in 2021, the event was started in a bid to attract new fans to the sport with light shows, music and a faster format. The Track Champions League featured the world's best endurance and sprint cyclists competing across multiple rounds in different European cities, but only three hosts staged events in 2024 - one in Paris, two in Apeldoorn and two in London. In a statement, the sport's world governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), and its media partner Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) said they would instead "revitalise" the existing Track Nations Cup to become the Track World Cup. "Over the next three years we will focus on coverage of the UCI Track World Cup," UCI president David Lappartient said."I am confident that track cycling will continue to grow in popularity, leading up to and beyond the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games." The Track Nations Cup has previously been a three-round competition but only one was scheduled this year, in Konya, Turkey, earlier this rebranding as the Track World Cup will also feature three rounds, with its programme consisting of Olympic events as well as the elimination race. The series will be used in part as qualification for the World Championships and the Olympic Games. The most recent Champions League event took place at Lee Valley VeloPark in London in December, but had to be abandoned after a crash into the crowd involving Great Britain's Katy Marchant.
Reuters
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
UCI Champions League scrapped after four years
LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - Track cycling's Champions League has been scrapped four years after its launch was hailed as a mind-blowing new way to present a sport often unfathomable to the general public. A joint statement on Monday from cycling's governing body the UCI and media partner Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports confirmed the 2024 season was the last. WBD originally committed to an eight-year partnership but the statement said it was "re-defining" its involvement in the promotion of track cycling. The UCI said the Track Nations Cup would be revitalised and become the Track World Cup from 2026 and that the collaboration with WBD would continue over the next three years. "Over the next three years we will focus on coverage of the UCI Track World Cup," UCI president David Lappartient said. "I am confident that track cycling will continue to grow in popularity, leading up to and beyond the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games." The UCI Track Champions League featured the world's top endurance and sprint riders competing across multiple rounds in cities such as Palma, London, Berlin and Paris from November-December with the points leaders in each category being crowned overall champions and pocketing 25,000 euros. Spectacular light shows, music and a rapid and simplified format were meant to appeal to fans new to track cycling and designed to be TV-friendly. The two rounds held in London each year were hugely popular with large crowds but other venues found it harder to sell tickets. Only three hosts staged a Champions League round in 2024. The Champions League era came to an abrupt halt at the second London round in December when a bad crash involving Britain's Olympic champion Katy Marchant meant the rest of the night's programme was cancelled. The UCI Track World Cup will consist of three rounds, with a program featuring the Olympic events as well as the elimination race, a format that has proved popular with the public. The series will form part of the qualification process for the world championships and Olympic Games. Bids are being accepted by the UCI for hosts for the rounds of the 2026, 2027 and 2028 editions.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
French Olympic Committee president won't seek new term after losing IOC election
PARIS (AP) — David Lappartient, the head of the French Olympic Committee, won't seek a new term later this year after losing to Kirsty Coventry in the race for president of the International Olympic Committee. Coventry became the first woman and first African to get the powerful position after beating out six other candidates on Thursday. Lappartient, who presides over cycling's governing body UCI, picked up just four of 97 votes. He was elected to the helm of the French Olympic committee (CNOSF) in June 2023 and was in charge when Paris successfully hosted the Summer Games and Paralympics last year. Under his tutelage, France was also given the hosting rights for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Lappartient has been a fast-rising and busy IOC member since joining the international body just three years ago. He already oversaw the preparation of a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia for creating and staging the new video gaming Esport Olympics. It will debut in 2027. Lappartient said on Friday in a letter to the directors and presidents of the French Olympic Committee's member federations that he was proud of his achievements, but that he wants to stick to his commitment to a two-year tenure. Lappartient, who is eligible to seek a third term as UCI president from 2025-29, said it's difficult to combine that role with other responsibilities. 'While it has been possible to combine these commitments over these two years at the cost of a very substantial personal investment, I do not believe that it is desirable, apart from the exceptional circumstances of the last two years," he said. Lappartient, who has been president of the UCI since 2017, was elected president of France's Olympic Committee as a replacement for Brigitte Henriques after she resigned unexpectedly. The next election will be held in June. ___ AP Olympics at
Associated Press
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
French Olympic Committee president won't seek new term after losing IOC election
PARIS (AP) — David Lappartient, the head of the French Olympic Committee, won't seek a new term later this year after losing to Kirsty Coventry in the race for president of the International Olympic Committee. Coventry became the first woman and first African to get the powerful position after beating out six other candidates on Thursday. Lappartient, who presides over cycling's governing body UCI, picked up just four of 97 votes. He was elected to the helm of the French Olympic committee (CNOSF) in June 2023 and was in charge when Paris successfully hosted the Summer Games and Paralympics last year. Under his tutelage, France was also given the hosting rights for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Lappartient has been a fast-rising and busy IOC member since joining the international body just three years ago. He already oversaw the preparation of a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia for creating and staging the new video gaming Esport Olympics. It will debut in 2027. Lappartient said on Friday in a letter to the directors and presidents of the French Olympic Committee's member federations that he was proud of his achievements, but that he wants to stick to his commitment to a two-year tenure. Lappartient, who is eligible to seek a third term as UCI president from 2025-29, said it's difficult to combine that role with other responsibilities. 'While it has been possible to combine these commitments over these two years at the cost of a very substantial personal investment, I do not believe that it is desirable, apart from the exceptional circumstances of the last two years,' he said. Lappartient, who has been president of the UCI since 2017, was elected president of France's Olympic Committee as a replacement for Brigitte Henriques after she resigned unexpectedly. The next election will be held in June.
Reuters
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Rwanda gets backing from world cycling chief despite blowback over Congo war
PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - The head of world cycling said the Road World Championships would go ahead in Rwanda in September, dismissing criticism from human rights groups who accuse Kigali of using sports to burnish its image while backing rebels fighting in neighbouring Congo. Hosting the event, which typically draws the world's top cyclists and has never previously been held in Africa, would be a public relations success for Rwanda at a time when it is facing diplomatic pushback over its actions in Congo. Western powers have sanctioned Rwandans over the country's support for M23 rebels who have seized a large swathe of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this year, while sports executives have maintained partnerships with Rwanda. David Lappartient, head of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and a candidate to lead the International Olympic Committee in Thursday's election, told Reuters he had recently discussed Congo with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali. "Here we have a situation which, without going into detail, is aimed at preventing a general return to a genocidal climate on Rwanda's borders," he said, echoing Rwanda's disputed position on what its forces are doing in Congo. Congo says Rwanda's army is fighting alongside M23 to seize territory and plunder its mineral wealth. Rwanda accuses Congo of harbouring a Hutu militia intent on persecuting Tutsis, the ethnic group targeted in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and says it must defend itself against that existential threat. The European Union on Monday sanctioned several Rwandan army officers, a Rwandan gold refinery and a mining official over the fighting in Congo and the smuggling of Congolese minerals. The United States last month announced sanctions against a Rwandan minister and close Kagame ally, James Kabarebe, for orchestrating Rwandan support for M23 and the export of minerals extracted from Congo. "SPORTSWASHING" Lappartient said he and Kagame agreed that sport was not a sanctioning tool. "As of today, we don't have any elements that mean we shouldn't go to Rwanda. And we haven't been working on plan Bs, so we're not working on plan Bs today. We're working on plan A, which is Rwanda," he said. Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said UCI should not lend itself to what he called Rwanda's "sportswashing", or using sports to create a positive image while deflecting attention from its actions in Congo. "If they go ahead, it shows that they are acting in complete indifference to the suffering of the Congolese people," he said. Rwanda sponsors soccer clubs Arsenal, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich, whose players have "Visit Rwanda" emblazoned on their shirts. In December, Kagame announced a bid to host a Formula One race. Rwanda also has a close partnership with the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which is run jointly by the NBA and the sport's world governing body FIBA. Congo's foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner has called on the three soccer clubs to end what she called their "blood-stained" Rwandan sponsorship deals, and has made similar appeals to Formula One and the NBA. The soccer clubs declined to comment. Formula One said it was closely monitoring developments and would make decisions based on "the best interests of our sport and our values". The NBA's Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told Reuters it wanted to use basketball to make a positive impact on people and that as well as the BAL games being hosted this season in Kigali, Dakar, Pretoria and Rabat, it was running youth basketball clinics and community service projects. "We will continue to monitor developments closely and follow the U.S. government's directives and guidance regarding our engagement in the region," he said. Rwanda's government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the charge of sportswashing was "a petty and tired trope pushed by those who want to perpetuate negative stereotypes of non-Western countries like Rwanda".
