UCI President Brian Cookson
DOHA: UCI President Brian Cookson yesterday said cycling interest is growing in the region and praised the efforts of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in Qatar for ‘doing a good job’ in hosting the UCI World Road Championships.
Cookson was speaking at a press conference during a break in competition yesterday.
“I think it’s fair to say that this is a part of the world where interest in our sport is growing,” Cook said.
“It’s still relatively small in terms of the number of spectators on the roadside but we are here. They are doing a good job for us, they’re promoting the race well, the standard of organisation is high,” he added
“There’s a lot of interest in cycling out here. There’s a lot of interest in supporting, funding and sponsoring cycling by way of running events here or sponsoring and running teams. That’s a good thing, I think,” Cookson told the media.
In 2002, Qatar became the first country in the region to stage a UCI event and a few years later the Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) added a women’s event to its annual calendar.
After Qatar’s ground-breaking success, countries like Oman and the UAE followed with their own UCI events in what was seen as a positive jump in cycling popularity in the region.
Four years ago, Qatar successfully bid to host this week’s UCI World Road Championships, another first for the sport-loving nation.
Cookson - who served as president of British Cycling from 1996 to 2013 before taking charge of the world body said it would be premature to make the final call on Qatar’s role as hosts of the UCI World Road Championships.
With today being the last day of the eight-day championship, it is the first time that the prestigious event has stopped by at a country in the Middle East.
“I don’t think we’re going to be in the Gulf every two or three years for the World Championships but let’s make an appraisal at the end of the week,” Cookson said.
“We’ve got to bear in mind that it’s not just about spectators on the ground, but also about television images and the television audience as well,” he said.
“The decision to come here was made four years ago, there was a lot of discussion about it at the time,” Cookson said.
When questioned about the warm weather that has engulfed the Qatari capital over the past week, Cookson said there was mixed reaction from the riders and from those watching the race action from the sidelines.
“Some riders have said some positive things as well; we should bear that in mind,” Cookson said when asked about reaction from riders about the warm weather.
“Obviously this is a part of the world where cycling is not an immediately popular sport, but I think we’ll see a good crowd on Sunday. It is what it is. We’re here,” he said defiantly.
Cookson said despite concerns about the rising mercury during competition time, there had been ‘no actual cases of heat exhaustion.’
“We have not had any cases of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, as I’ve been advised by the medical team. We’ve had plenty of cases of exhaustion, plenty of cases of riders being extremely fatigued, which you get at any World Championships, but no actual cases of heat exhaustion, so I’m advised by our medical team,” Cookson said.
“We have a contingency plan in place but it is just that: a contingency plan,” Cookson said.
“As at this moment in time, it doesn’t look like it will be needed. The full distance will be raced,” Cookson said.
Just a day before the championships kicked off in Doha, Cookson said cycling was winning over new audiences pretty fast.
“We’ve witnessed a tremendous change in fortunes for our sport in the last two decades. I come from the UK where cycling activity used to be moderate. But all that has changed now. More people than ever are riding bicycles on a daily basis. The same is the case with Switzerland, where I’m currently based,” Cookson said.
“People have woken up to the health benefits of cycling. Riding a bicycle to work helps cut your spending on fuel. People are wholeheartedly embracing the new culture of healthy living,” he said.
