International Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient has officially declared his candidacy as he aims to become the new leader of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).
The Frenchman, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has issued a letter to the heads of France’s National Federations to confirm that he had officially entered the race for the CNOSF Presidency.
His announcement comes just a day after Emmanuelle Bonnet-Oulaldj, the joint leader of the Workers’ Sports and Gymnastics Federation, became the first to submit their application to the CNOSF.
Lappartient soon emerged as the favorite to secure the top job after expressing his interest following the shock resignation of Brigitte Henriques.
Henriques was elected as President in 2021 but has endured a turbulent two-year spell in charge of the organisation.
Lappartient insisted that it was “now necessary to pacify relations and encourage the coming together of all the players in French sport”.
“I think I have the capacity to guarantee this gathering,” Lappartient wrote in his letter obtained by French newspaper L’Équipe
Lappartient has led the UCI since 2017, securing a second four-year term in 2021, and became an IOC member last year.
If elected as CNOSF President, the 50-year-old said he would not take a salary for the role and would instead ensure that money was “allocated to actions that we could define together such as the development of sport in disadvantaged sectors, or the support for refugee athletes and Ukrainian athletes”.
Lappartient also revealed that he did not intend to stand again once the mandate is due to finish in 2025 as he looks to steady the ship before the staging of next year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.
“As such, the finalisation of the Club France 2024 project is a priority, as is the work on the legacy which will be our collective mission,” added Lappartient.
“The autonomy of the sports movement in order to defend the interests which are ours and those of our members; implement the approved political project, aimed at making France an even sportier nation, promoting women’s sport, combating territorial divisions, promoting national cohesion and integration, developing sport for all and finally to improve governance.”
Lappartient told L’Équipe that he would be forced to cut back on some of his commitments should he succeed Henriques.
“Despite everything, the days are only 24 hours long, and we all have limits,” said Lappartient
“So I know that if I were to be elected, the schedule for the next 22 months is going to be complicated.
“It will force me to think about the organisation, and I have planned, if I were to be elected, either to resign from certain mandates, or to change my mode of operation a little because there are things that are rolling quite normally.”
“I will be in Paris every week. I will not resign from the Presidency of the UCI. I will not resign from the Presidency of the department, but I will probably resign from the Presidency of the Natural Park of the Gulf of Morbihan, I will probably resign from my post of community adviser.”
CNOSF secretary general Astrid Guyart has been installed as Acting President following Henriques’ decision to step down at the organisation’s General Assembly last month.
Guyart is expected to remain in temporary charge of the CNOSF until the Presidential election which is set to be held on June 29.
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