July 8, 2008 – The Canadian Cycling Association’s Chief Executive Lorraine Lafrenière visited the International Cycling Union (UCI) headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland recently. Mrs. Lafrenière met with the UCI President Pat McQuaid (photo) as well as the Managers and Coordinators of the various cycling disciplines.

Organisation of UCI events
Subjects of discussion included Canada’s progression and position in the world of cycling as well as the future organization by the Canadian Cycling Association of several UCI events. These events include two triple Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup events in 2008 (cross-country, downhill and 4-cross), at least one event in the same series in 2009, as well as the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2010.

Talks were also held concerning the possibility of Canada jointly organising a UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup event with the United States — the two legs to be held on two consecutive weekends.

Mrs. Lafrenière expressed Canada’s interest in applying for the organisation of a UCI Para-cycling World Championships.

During her visit to the UCI headquarters Mrs. Lafrenière also talked with the Managers of some of the UCI’s key departments: Training, Road, Marketing and Sports.

Meeting with BMX athletes
The Chief Executive of the Canadian Cycling Association was able to meet with and encourage the Canadian BMX athletes who were on a training camp at the World Cycling Centre (WCC) to prepare the Beijing Olympic Games.

Her visit to Switzerland finished with a trip to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, accompanied by the UCI Head of National Federation Relations Dominique Raymond.