It is a part of the Cycling Integrity programme that comprises three pillars: Clean cycling, Safe cycling and Fair cycling. Each has an educational programme and a reactive component enabling to report any abuse.
The statement reads: “As a vehicle for strong and positive universal values, cycling is an effective tool for the development of individuals and populations, as well as for sustainable and inclusive development.
“To play this constructive role, cycling must be safe for its actors: each member of the cycling family, whether a rider or not, must be able to evolve in an environment in which they feel safe and respected.
“The UCI must therefore do its utmost to fight against harassment and abuse in all its forms: psychological and physical abuse, sexual harassment and abuse, and negligence. Such occurrences simply have no place in cycling – professional or amateur – and cannot be tolerated.”
UCI continues to state that everyone’s contribution is valuable in helping the UCI create a safer environment for all. To that end, they launched a reporting platform, UCI SpeakUp, in 2021, where anyone can report any abuse they witness. This platform can also be used to report technological fraud and competition manipulation. For suspected doping incidents, the International Testing Agency (ITA) has its own platform REVEAL.
“Integrity is a fundamental value of sport, and cycling is a fantastic sport, which also has the power to inspire hundreds of millions of people around the world to adopt cycling as a healthy leisure activity and sustainable means of transport,“ UCI President David Lappartient said.
“Cycling upholds strong values such as hard work, perseverance and solidarity, but it is also open to abuse. Such abuse has no place in our sport, and the UCI does not tolerate it. We want our sport to contribute to building a better society, and to this end, we do everything possible so that victims and witnesses of abuse know that we are on their side, and to encourage them to help us make cycling a sport that strives to be exemplary at all levels.”