Paris Nice Row

Further to our earlier report concerning the holding of Paris Nice and now the European Cycling Union has asked the French Cycle Federation not to mandate the race outside of the UCI..

British Cycling report; The British Cycling president Brian Cookson attended the Congress of the UEC (European Cycling Union) and, together with colleagues from all the other European nations, discussed many of the issues currently under debate in the sport of cycling. In particular, the serious dispute between the UCI, the French Cycling Federation (FFC) and ASO - organisers of the Tour de France and many other major races - was the subject of considerable debate.
 
Delegates generally felt that the ProTour structure contained many flaws and must be the subject of a major review, but equally most delegates felt that the action of the FFC in authorising the promotion of the Paris-Nice race outside the UCI regulatory framework was unacceptable and a dangerous precedent.
 
The following resolution was put to the Congress:

This Congress asks;
a) the UCI to undertake a complete review of the ProTour during 2008 and to bring proposals for a revised structure to the UCI Congress in September 2008, for approval for the 2009 season.
 
b) the FFC not to authorise the Paris-Nice, or any other major international race, outside the regulations of the UCI.
 
On being put to the vote, this resolution was carried, with 18 national federations voting in favour, 7 against.
 
British Cycling President Brian Cookson said "I think this is a clear and coherent resolution which will help all sides to bring this crisis to a speedy conclusion. It acknowledges that the ProTour has been a problematic and divisive structure which needs a major re-think, but at the same time, it emphasises that the democratic structures that we have all put in place over the years to govern our sport, must be respected. With goodwill on both sides, we can now avoid a major breakdown in our sport, and move forward together to address the other serious issues and develop our great sport in all its many facets".