Sao Paulo – The President of the International Cycling Union, David Lappartient, praised the work done by the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI) in the year 2023 and personally congratulated its top management, José Manuel Peláez, during the annual Congress of that entity, which brings together 42 nations throughout the Americas.
“I want to congratulate COPACI, and my friend Pelaez for the excellent work he does in this continent, where we see whenever we visit him a great passion for cycling. They had many competitions and medals and I know they are doing a great job, seeing their new dynamic structures,” Lappartient said in his speech.
With the presence of delegates from 33 nations, the conclave reviewed the achievements, difficulties and projections of COPACI in the 12 balanced months, taking as a reference point the Agenda 2025, approved by COPACI as a guide for the work and that also received recognition in the words of Lappartient, who considered it “very adjusted and concrete to the scenario of the region, hence the high levels of growth of cycling in America”, said the head of the UCI.
The management report presented by Peláez highlighted, among others, the successful celebrations of two multisport Games: Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador and Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile; the growth of the America Tour circuit races (23 now for 14 in 2022), and the projects presented for the Olympic Solidarity Program, which in the case of the National Federations amounted to 207,800 CHF.
During the presentation of the accountability report, Pelaez detailed, among other issues, the five continental championships in the different modalities: Mountain Bike, BMX Racing, Road, Track and Frestyle; the achievements of America in the World Championship in Glasgow; and the relentless battle against doping, with 33% of cases worldwide in this geographical area.
Likewise, the presentation to COPACI by the King and Queen of Spain of the Ibero-American Community Trophy, the highest sports award in the Iberian nation for an entity or outstanding athlete from Spain, was acknowledged, while Peláez requested support for the candidacy of Colombian Mariana Pajón to the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
Addressing the guests, the head of the UCI, reviewed the main problems of cycling in the world today, as well as the impact of the unified world championship in Glasgow, where five nations of America added champions. He thanked Chile for taking the reins of the 2025 World Track Championships after Argentina declined to organize it due to internal problems and little support from the government.
As for the 2025 calendar, Uruguay will host the Road World Championships (date still pending), Chile will host the Mountain Bike DHL and XCM, in March and June, respectively; while Costa Rica requested to host the Gravel World Championships in February and the MTB-XCO, XCE, XCC and XCR; and Guatemala will host the Enduro World Championships in September. The rest are still pending confirmation, which will be known before the end of 2024.
Finally, the nine COPACI delegates to the UCI Congress next September in Zurich were elected by vote. They are José Luiz Vasconcellos (Brazil), Monique Leerdam (Aruba), Rowena Williams (Trinidad and Tobago) Jorge Blas (Dominican) Roberto Collazo (Puerto Rico), Mauricio Vargas (Colombia), Brendan Quirk (USA), Gustavo Matus (Peru) and Oscar Avila (Costa Rica).
