UCI president David Lappartient was at the Gravel World Championships in northern Italy on Sunday, leading the federation’s embrace of the ‘spirit of gravel’ and witnessing Gianni Vermeersch pull on the first elite men’s rainbow jersey of the speciality.
However, Lappartient also faced further questions about his recent comments about press freedom and the continuing presence of oligarch Igor Makarov on the UCI Management Committee.
During the UCI Road World Championships in Australia, the UCI refused to give a media accreditation to Cyclingtips journalist Ian Treloar and then comments emerged from an interview with Velonews where Lappartient said: “There are always big stories on CyclingTips but never in favour of the UCI.”
“This guy is sitting in Australia sipping a beer. What have they done for this?” he said in relation to an investigation by Treloar into the evacuation of Afghan riders and people linked to the Afghan Cycling Federation.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’ve nothing to report to him. He can continue to write bad things about the UCI. To be honest, I don’t care but if there’s something then I won’t close my eyes to it.”
The UCI argued that Treloar was not given accreditation for Wollongong because no media was permitted more than three media representatives at the Championships. However, other media are often given more than accreditations.
A member of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC), Treloar has written and researched extensively the UCI’s role in the evacuation of Afghanistan athletes, and Makarov’s membership of the UCI management committee. He has also investigated the bizarre relationship between the UCI and former Turkmenistan president and autocrat Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. Turkmenistan has been branded one of the most repressive states in the world.
Lappartient avoided the three-accreditation-per-media rule when quizzed at the Gravel World Championships but continued to bristle about what he viewed as biased media scrutiny.
“We live in a democratic world and to allow the press to say what they want is completely normal, otherwise we’re not in a democratic world,” he suggested.
“We’re not always right at the UCI but we’re not always wrong either. To always write articles that challenge the UCI – that is not completely balanced.”
Lappartient again specifically criticised reporting on his involvement in evacuating riders and staff from Afghanistan.
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