Seven Americans have been appointed to nine positions on commission at the international cycling union, UCI. The appointments include ASI's Karen Bliss, who was appointed as an industry representative to the UCI's newly formed Women's Commission and People for Bikes president Tim Blumenthal, who was appointed to the UCI's Cycling for All Commission.
For the first time, every UCI commission includes at least one woman. That fulfulls a promise laid out in a "manifesto" published by UCI president Brian Cookson prior to his election.
Also in line with Cookson's manifesto, the UCI set up three new commissions: the Women’s Commission, the International Development and National Federations’ Commission, and a Constitutional Review Panel.
Cookson said, “I am delighted by this announcement, which helps reinforce the presence of women in cycling. It was one of the priorities of my mandate along with the international development of cycling and the reform of the governance of the UCI. Today we continue working to ensure our pledges are met.”
"I would like to congratulate all of the appointees on their selection to these important UCI Commission positions," said USA Cycling president and CEO Steve Johnson. "Representation at the international level is an important aspect of our overall development strategy and is essential to ensure a truly global perspective in the management of the various cycling disciplines."
Mike Plant and Georgia Gould were each appointed to two commissions each. Plant, recently re-elected to the UCI Management Committee, was named on Monday to serve on the Pro Cycling Council and was also named as president for the UCI Cyclo-cross Commission. Gould, a bronze medalist in mountain bike at the 2012 Olympic Games, was appointed as the cross-country athlete representative on the Mountain Bike Commission as well as mountain bike representative on the UCI Athletes' Commission.
Other Americans receiving appointments from the UCI on Monday were USA Cycling's Sean Petty to the Road Commission, Geoff Proctor to the Cyclo-cross Commission, and Katie Compton as cyclo-cross rider representative to the Women's Commission.
Petty was appointed for his third four-year term on the Road Commission, and Proctor was appointed for his second four-year term on the Cyclo-cross Commission.
