Michael Brian Cookson OBE (born 22 June 1951) is the former president of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

(UCI), having been elected to the post in September 2013 at the

2013 UCI Road World Championships The 2013 UCI Road World Championships took place in Tuscany, Italy, between 22 and 29 September 2013. The Championships consisted of 12 events for elite, under-23 and junior cyclists. It was the 86th Road World Championships, the 13th in Italy ...

. Cookson previously served as president of

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

from 1997 to 2013, after becoming a member of an emergency committee to rescue it from insolvency in 1996. He has been credited with turning the sport around since taking on his unpaid role as president and under his presidency, British cyclists have won 19 Olympic gold medals, 28 Paralympic Gold medals, the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

five times, and multiple World Championship titles in disciplines of Road, Track and BMX.

Personal life

Graduating in 1973, Cookson retired in March 2013 from his mainstream career, where he was employed by

Pendle Borough Council Pendle may refer to: * Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England ** Pendle (UK Parliament constituency) * Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England ** Forest of Pendle, hilly landscape surrounding the hill * Pendle College of the University of Lancaster ...

as Executive Director (Regeneration) having gained wide experience in strategic management of multi-facetted organisations, and of managing teams of staff engaged in major programmes of urban regeneration and renewal. Cookson is married to Sian, has three children and lives in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire.

Administration career

Administratively, Cookson has held the following offices; Division Road Race Secretary, 1981–5; Division Vice Chairman 1984–7; Division Chairman 1993–7; BCF Racing and Executive Committees 1984–93; BCF Executive Committee/Board 1996–present. He has represented cycling at the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

since 1996. Cookson qualified as a UCI International Commissaire (i.e. judge/referee) in 1986, working on events such as the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

, the Milk Race, the Warsaw-Berlin-Prague

Peace Race The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...

and stage races in Australia, South Africa, Germany, Spain, France. Brian has also been involved in World Championships in France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the

Barcelona Olympic Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. Internationally, he was elected to the UCI Management Committee in 2009, and was appointed as President of the UCI Cyclo-Cross Commission from 2009 to 2011, then President of the UCI Road Commission from 2011 to present. Cookson made a statement following the doping scandals of the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...

, urging the organisers not to give up the fight for a clean sport. Cookson announced on 4 June 2013 that he would be running for election as President of the

(UCI) – the international federation for the sport of cycling. Cookson was elected at the annual Congress in Florence, Italy, on 27 September 2013.

Involvement in the sport of cycling

As a competitor, Cookson competed in road racing, track, cyclo-cross and MTB. The high point of his competitive career was winning the Lakeland Division Road Race championship in 1971. More recently he has completed a number of sportive events, including l'Etape du Tour, the Fred Whitton Challenge and the Ride with Brad. He completed the Pyrenees Coast to Coast ride in 2011, and competed in the National Masters Track and Road Championships in 2012. As an official, Cookson has organised or chaired the organising committee of events continuously since 1969, from club level to

Premier Calendar The British Cycling Premier Calendar Road Race Series is a season-long competition run by British Cycling. It comprises a series of road bicycle races for the country's top domestic road riders. Organisation and events In 2010 points were awar ...

. In 2010, for example, he chaired the Pendle Cycle Fest, which included the National Road Championships, the Colne GP circuit race, the Pendle Pedal sportive, and a summer-long programme of Sky Local rides for families.

Honour

Cookson was awarded the OBE in the 2008

New Year's Honours List The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark thi ...

for services to cycling, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire in 2009. He was elected a member of the British Olympic Association's executive committee for a third term in October 2005, and again re-elected in November 2007.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookson, Brian English male cyclists Living people People from Ribble Valley (district) Place of birth missing (living people) Presidents of UCI 1951 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Lancashire