Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President David Lappartient attended the 2018 Oceania Cycling Confederation (OCC) Annual General Meeting with Confederation President Tracey Gaudry and representatives and delegates of Member nations, in Adelaide, January 19.

Lappartient who was elected UCI President at the UCI Congress in Bergen, September 2017 made his first visit to Australia and Adelaide since 2004, where he was the Chief Commissaire of the Santos Tour Down Under.

“The OCC is delighted to host UCI President David Lappartient at the OCC Congress during the early months of his Presidency, to observe and celebrate the strength of cycling in our region and to attend the Santos Tour Down Under, the first UCI Men’s World event of the season in its 20th edition,” said Oceania Confederation President and UCI Management Committee Member Tracey Gaudry.

2017 was a year of significant growth, activity and progress for the OCC across grass roots and sport development, administration, operations, communications and enhanced stakeholder engagement.

A new constitution was adopted with the OCC incorporated in Victoria, the Executive Board was expanded to five members and Cycling New Zealand Chairman Tony Mitchell was elected to the UCI Management Committee, giving Oceania a second representative for the first time.

New Caledonia become the seventh Member nation of the OCC in 2017, with continued growth in Pacific nations a key priority for 2018.

“National Federation Membership growth is strategically important for the UCI and OCC. For the OCC, membership is an important component of our Pacific Strategy, and at the 2017 OCC Annual General Meeting (AGM) New Caledonia was welcomed as an Associate Member of the OCC,” Gaudry said.

Two more nations are currently in the process of becoming Members of the OCC and UCI with a further five nations having expressed interest in membership.

“The Pacific Development Strategy to grow cycling in the region was a priority for 2017 with significant progress made across sport, administration and operational areas and remains so for 2018.“

With considerable experience available in processes and staff in Australia and with funding and assistance provided by the UCI and UCI World Cycling Centre, development courses for officials were held as part of a pilot project in Fiji at the end of last year.

“In November 2017, a pilot project was conducted in Suva, Fiji which successfully trialed the Pacific Referee and Pacific Coach courses. These courses will be finalised and formally launched in 2018.

“Long term development ambitions also include cycling to be included as a core sport in the Pacific Games,” Gaudry said.

In addition to Tracey Gaudry (Australia) and Tony Mitchell (New Zealand) sitting on the UCI Management Committee, 14 members from Oceania nations were appointed to UCI Commissions.

“It is a significant development that Oceania is now represented on nearly all UCI Commissions and Committees demonstrating both the exceptional skills, knowledge and experience of our people and the recognition of our region as a substantial contributor to cycling globally,” Gaudry continued.

Oceania cyclists again enjoyed another successful year on the international stage winning 18 gold, 26 silver and 23 bronze medals at Junior and Elite UCI World Championships across Para-cycling, track, toad, MTB and BMX disciplines.

The overall winner of the 2017 Oceania Tour was Lucas Hamilton (Australia) who has now joined the Mitchelton-Scott World Tour team.

The Oceania region will again host some of the biggest events on the cycling calendar in 2018 including two UCI Men’s WorldTour events, three UCI Continental Tour events, three UCI Women’s road events, two World Gran Fondo series events and Continental Championships in road, track, MTB and BMX.

The international sporting spotlight will continue to shine brightly on the Oceania region with the 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) on the Gold Coast, Queensland from April 4-15. Cycling is a major part of the GC2018 program featuring track, road and MTB events.