Union Cycliste Internationale

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:World Cycling Centre - Aigle Switzerland.jpg

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. The UCI is headquartered in Aigle, Switzerland. The English translation is the International Cycling Union.

The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules, such as in matters of doping. The UCI also manages the classification of races and the points ranking system in various cycling disciplines including mountain biking, road and track cycling, for both men and women, amateur and professional. It also oversees the World Championships — in which different countries compete instead of trade teams — in various disciplines and in different categories. The winners of these races have the right to wear a special rainbow jersey for the following year, and have the right to wear an armband in the same rainbow pattern for the remainder of their careers.

Contents

History

The UCI was founded April 14, 1900 in Paris by the national cycling organisations of Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland.

Presidents

Name Country Presidency
Emile de Beukelaer Belgium 1900-1922
Léon Breton France 1922-1936
Max Burgi Switzerland 1936-1939
Alban Collignon Belgium 1939-1947
Achille Joinard France 1947-1958
Adriano Rodoni Italy 1958-1981
Luis Puig Spain 1981-1990
Hein Verbruggen Netherlands 1991-2006
Pat McQuaid Ireland 2006-

UCI World Cup and ProTour

From 1988 until 2004, the UCI administered the UCI World Cup, a season-long competition incorporating all the major one-day professional road races. In 2005 this was replaced by the UCI ProTour series which includes the Grand Tour road cycling stage races (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España) and a wider range of other one-day and stage races.

Mountain biking

In mountain bike racing, the Mountain Bike World Championships is the most important and prestigious competition each year. This includes the disciplines of cross-country, downhill and 4-cross.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a series of races, held annually since 1991.

External link

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