Brian Cookson has been ousted as UCI president, after being emphatically beaten in the election in Bergen by Frenchman David Lappartient.
Lappartient won by 37 votes to eight, having previously served with the French Cycling Federation and European Cycling Union (UEC).
Cookson had told reporters he was confident on the eve of the vote, but the former British Cycling president has become the first ever UCI president to serve just one term at the head of cycling’s governing body.
Lappartient, 44, told delgates after the vote: “It is a great responsibility, and I will endevour in the next four years of my presidency to be worthy of such trust and deliver my commitment to you.
“I’m delighted to see that my electors have come from all continents. The projects that I’ve proposed to the UCI and which I share with you seem to offer greater hope for the future of international cycling.
“Change generates fear. It’s normal. However, I would like to reconfirm to UCI employees that I know their value and professionalism, and we need your expertise and commitment to work with me in delivering this four-year plan.
“As of Tuesday, I will be at the UCI headquarters in Aigle to meet each and every one of you, and begin working on what I have been elected to do.”
Cookson, meanwhile, congratulated the Frenchman and admitted he was sad not to be able to see out the work he had begun at the UCI.
“The UCI I leave behind is unrecognisable from the organisation I took over in 2013 and I depart with my head held high,” he said.
“Someone needed to stand up and take on the previous regime, who had dragged cycling into the gutter, and I leave the UCI knowing that I have delivered all the promises I made four years ago.
“I am tremendously disappointed not to have been given a mandate to complete the work we began four years ago and I hope that David Lappartient will continue to move cycling in the right direction.”
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