The governing body of Cycling has further issued a warning for year 2020. Due to Covid19 it has warned that revenues next year will be further reduced most notably due to postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were due to be getting properly under way this weekend.

As custodian of a group B sport, the UCI would have been expecting to receive somewhere around $25 million for cycling’s contribution to the Games, with the bulk of the money arriving this September.

Now, even in the best of circumstances, payment will be delayed by a year, while the amount may very possibly be reduced.

International Cycling Union Financial Report for 2019 : Highlights

The UCI 2019 Financial Report which is an integral part of the Annual Report showed continued revenue growth with commercial revenues, excluding one-off items, reaching a record 7.3 million Swiss francs. In 2019 the UCI invested 7 million Swiss Francs in training and development both at the UCI World Cycling Centre and through its Continental Confederations and National Federations across the globe. The net deficit of 3.5 million Swiss francs in 2019 was 1.6 million Swiss Francs below our budgeted deficit and a 3.4 million improvement on 2018. The UCI ended the year with reserves of 45 million Swiss Francs, including investments of 30 million Swiss Francs and current balances of 12 million Swiss francs. Like almost all institutions and businesses, the UCI is facing many challenges in 2020 but its strong balance sheet makes it well-equipped to face them and continue to develop the sport. 

In addition, the 2019 UCI Annual Report includes extensive useful information about the Federation and its activities, including a general introduction to the institution and the disciplines it governs, the lists and compositions of its bodies and commissions, the list of the 196 member National Federations, and the results and rankings of all the UCI events throughout the season.

The UCI President David Lappartient declared: “2019 was marked by the continuation of our work in line with the UCI’s 2022 Agenda, our Federation’s roadmap that was approved by the UCI’s 2018 Congress. The Annual Report that we are pleased to publish today enables readers to discover the progress made in 2019, which was achieved with an overall triple perspective: the expansion of our solidarity programmes for National Federations in need of them, the further increase of our sport’s appeal and the strengthening of its credibility.

“This progress continues in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic which is severely affecting the world of sport. The UCI is working very hard to limit as far as possible the negative effects of the pandemic, and I acknowledge the efforts being made by all cycling’s stakeholders to do the same.”