UCI president David Lappartient vows to stand up to Donald Trump in pitch for top Olympic job

UCI president David Lappartient is this week going for arguably top job in world sport — presidency of the International Olympic Committee — but faces a tough task against British athletics legend and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, as well as five other candidates hoping to succeed outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach.

Lappartient, who currently holds cycling's biggest job alongside being president of the French Olympic Committee and an IOC member and president of the organisation's Esports commission, made his pitch for the IOC chief role by outlining a desire to stand up to Donald Trump and make the president "respect" the organisation's autonomy on matters such as decisions around transgender athletes' participation.

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The Frenchman agrees with Coe that transgender athletes' inclusion must not come at the expense of fairness but said the decision "must not be taken from an ideological angle" and should be made by the IOC, not international federations or anyone else. Trump earlier this year marked the start of his presidency by signing his Keeping Men Out of Women's Sport executive order.

Lappartient told Reuters: "I imagined the new president of the IOC, whoever he is, and I pictured myself in that position in the Oval Office, in a discussion with President Trump and we have seen that sometimes those discussions don't go according to plan.

David Lappartient (credit: ASO/Charly Lopez)

"When a country hosts the Games, it undertakes to respect the Olympic Charter, which sets out a number of principles, including that of autonomy. The message I would like to pass on (to Trump) is that our autonomy must be respected. But our decisions must not be taken from an ideological angle either. The idea is that the matter is settled before 2028."

The 2028 date is important due to the Olympic Games being hosted in Los Angeles, Trump set to be the US president in charge at the time.

"International Federations can sometimes be powerful and can also generate a certain amount of fear," Lappartient continued. "But I have a second hat, which is that I am also president of the National Olympic Committee. And all the (IOC) presidents, whether President Bach or President (Jacques) Rogge before him, were president of the German and Belgian NOCs (respectively).

David Lappartient (credit: Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com)

"So my case is also that of an NOC president being a candidate. I'm also familiar with this important aspect of Olympism. I'd say that it's an advantage to be president of an NOC and president of an International Federation at the same time."

Lappartient has also made taking the Olympics to Africa part of his pitch, this year's UCI Cycling World Championships set to be hosted in Rwanda used as evidence of his ability to deliver the project. The IOC election takes place this week in Greece, with Lappartient taking on Coe, IOC vice-president Juan Antonio Samaranch, Zimbabwe sports minister and multiple-time Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry, Price Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe, and International Ski Federation chief Johan Eliasch.

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The UCI president ousted Brian Cookson from the role back in 2017, winning election at the governing body's World Congress by 37 votes to eight. He was previously UCI vice-president and a president of the European Cycling Federation and French Cycling Federation.