The President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and of the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) Foundation Board David Lappartient, and the Rector of the University of Lausanne (UNIL) Frédéric Herman, have signed a cooperation agreement for continuing education and research in cycling. The agreement was signed yesterday at the UCI headquarters in Aigle (Switzerland).
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the governing body for world cycling. It develops and oversees cycling in all its forms and for everyone, as a competitive sport, healthy leisure activity and sustainable means of transport. It represents, to sporting and public institutions, the interest of 197 National Federations, five Continental Confederations, more than 1500 professional cyclists, a million licensed riders, millions of cycling enthusiasts and two billion bike users. With the UCI WCC, it has a high-level training and education centre.
A centre of excellence for teaching, training and applied research in the domain of sport, the UNIL has an Institute of Sports Sciences (ISSUL) which proposes Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral programmes for tomorrow’s sports leaders. The 140 researchers in its Interdisciplinary Centre for Sports Research (CIRS) are also active in domains as varied as training, biomechanics, anti-doping, governance, gender and medicine. The UNIL/EPFL Sports Centre also offers a high level of expertise in coaching and performance. Finally, the UNIL launched its Observatory for cycling and active mobilities (OUVEMA) in 2020.
The UCI and the UNIL will therefore naturally collaborate with a view to establishing, from 2022, a continuing education course “cycling coaching” aimed at National Federation coaches. Short courses will also be proposed in the domains of development and cycling for all. In addition, the UCI and the UNIL will work together to set up joint research projects.
Frédéric Herman, Rector of the UNIL, declared: “The University of Lausanne is pleased to develop its collaboration with the World Cycling Centre (WCC) of the UCI, a leading International Federation within the “Lausanne, Olympic Capital” ecosystem. This agreement reinforces the UNIL’s positioning in sports sciences and on questions of sustainability, where the bike has an important role. It also participates in the UNIL’s desire to contribute to an evolving know-how that is not only academic but also put into practice. This agreement consolidates our relations with the WCC and the UCI, which have already seen important collaborations in the past.”
UCI President David Lappartient declared: “The central element of the UCI’s solidarity and development programmes, the UCI World Cycling Centre has been delivering courses to people in different professions linked to our sport for many years. It is an essential mission to ensure the development of promising young athletes from different regions of the world. These athletes must be able to count on an entourage made up of qualified people. With the cooperation agreement signed with the UNIL, an academic institution recognised internationally, the UCI reinforces the quality of the UCI WCC’s training programmes, while expanding its offer in the rapidly growing domain of cycling for all.”