During Lappartient's visit, the UCI made several announcements about the reforms of both women’s and men’s professional bike racing, and he spoke with Cyclingnews in detail about these upcoming reforms that make up the UCI’s Agenda 2022.
Lappartient spoke with us about the introduction of a two-tiered system for women’s teams, whereby five teams would form the top tier in 2020, called the Women’s WorldTeams. He also revealed that the UCI would introduce a long-awaited minimum wage for Women’s WorldTeams. And we later learned from the UCI that the goal was to introduce it gradually, but that it would equal the men’s Pro Continental level before 2023. The current minimum salary regulations for the men’s Pro Continental teams is €30,855.
Lappartient also highlighted details of the new women’s calendar, called the UCI ProSeries, that will have three categories: Women’s WorldTour and Class 1 and 2. And he spoke about the new contractual regulations that are meant to improve the working conditions for women in cycling.
On the men’s side, Lappartient discussed the WorldTour reforms, which include the newly designed calendar of one-day races, short stage races and Grand Tours. The changes are modest, but he highlighted some of the ways that cycling could find new revenue and ensured stability.
He also spoke about the recent election that saw Gianni Bugno re-elected as the president of the CPA, and some of the structural changes he hopes to see in the coming year.
His first year as UCI presdient can be considered successful in some ways, but there was also some turbulence from the beginning, with Chris Froome’s now-resolved salbutamol case, a back-and-forth spat with Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford, and the negative atmosphere surrounding the Tour de France.
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