UCI President Attends Oceania Cycling Annual Assembly
The International Cycling Union (UCI) President, David Lappartient, was a special guest at the Oceania Cycling Confederation’s (OCC) Annual General Meeting held in Adelaide, Australia, last month during the Tour Down Under road cycling festival week. Mr Lappartient was warmly acknowledged for the development and solidarity investment in the Pacific by the international body.
The OCC reported a successful year delivering its objectives against the new three-year Strategic Plan 2019-2021. Oceania athletes had outstanding results at world level competition winning 74 World Championship medals across all disciplines and categories. The OCC also welcomed Samoa as a new member federation, as well as finalised the associate membership of the Northern Mariana Islands. The OCC returned break-even financial position as budgeted; expanded communications activity; and progressed an ambitious development and advocacy program, all from a very limited resource base.
Following the AGM, Mr Lappartient hosted a forum session with the OCC Executive and member delegates, which included indication of the UCI’s ongoing commitment to development in the Oceania region.
The day concluded with a Pacific Development Workshop with delegates from the Pacific Island federations working with OCC Executive and management to plan the year ahead. Three key projects stood out as priorities for 2020:
- Ongoing advocacy for Cycling’s re-inclusion in future Pacific Games sport programs;
- The establishment and resourcing of a Pacific Cup format to develop competition between Pacific Island nations; and
- Progressing the BMX Pacific project aimed at establishing this cycling discipline as the cornerstone of future cycling development by targeting youth.
2020 Oceania Road Championships move to Brisbane
The 2020 Oceania Road Championships will be held in Brisbane, Australia, from April 5-6. In conjunction with the Tour of Brisbane, the Championships form part of the Brisbane Cycling Festival. This was the final Continental Championships to be confirmed for 2020, with the Queensland government keen to host the event for two years. The Championships will be conducted in men’s and women’s elite, U23 and Junior (U19) categories.
The 2019/2020 Oceania Continental Cycling Championships program is:
- October 16-19, 2019, Oceania Track Championships – Invercargill, New Zealand
- December 7, 2019. Oceania BMX Freestyle Championships, Melbourne Australia
- January 23-25, Oceania Mountain Bike Championships – Dunedin, New Zealand
- March 28, 2020, Oceania BMX Championships – Launceston, Australia
- April 5-6, 2020, Oceania Road Championships – Brisbane, Australia
Oceania and Pacific Calendars Continues to Expand
The Oceania UCI Continental Calendar has continued its steady growth with additional events across all disciplines and in particular, increased women’s events. This is a critical factor in the high performance pathway for Oceania’s elite cyclists. 2019 was an exceptional year, with 14 world events held in Oceania.
From a development perspective, Oceania Cycling is again pleased to continue promotion of the ‘Pacific Calendar’, which highlights the major open events conducted across the Pacific island federations.
The 2020 Pacific Calendar is:
- 15 March, Guam Open MTB XC Championships, GUAM
- 1-3 May, X Caledonia MTB, NEW CALEDONIA
- 21-29 August, Tour of Samoa, SAMOA
- 28 August, Savai’I 180 1-day Challenge, SAMOA
- 5-7 September, Tour of Fiji, FIJI
- 10-24 October, Tour de Nouvelle Caledonie, NEW CALEDONIA
- 29 Oct – 6 Nov, Tour Tahiti Nui (Men), TAHITI
- 29-30, November Pacific Road Cup, TAHITI
- 1-6 December, Au Tour D’Elles (Women), TAHITI
- 5 December, Hell of the Marianas, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
- 13 December, Tour of Guam, GUAM