Next week, there will be a vote on the International Cycling Union (UCI) Highway Cycling Athletes Commission. Toms Skujiņš, a Latvian professional cyclist from Carnik, who has been nominated for the competition by world champion Filips Žilbērs, has been nominated in the athletics commission, the Latvian Cycling Federation (LRF) informed.
UCI athlete commissions are established for all types of cycling. The task of the athletes elected in them is to defend the interests of the athletes of their type of cycling. The composition of the commission is four years, but it is represented by one man and one woman. One man and one woman will be elected to the UCI Highway Cycling Athletes Commission. All participants of the men’s and women’s elite competitions starting in the world championship will be able to vote. Voting will be organized before signing the start.
Toms Skujiņš, a 30-year-old cyclist of the Latvian national team and the US team “Trek – Segafredo”, has been nominated as one of the two candidates in the men’s competition. He is not only a great rider, but also actively defends the interests of cyclists in various organizations, says LRF. Tom has often served as captain of his team, and is one of the role models in professional highway cycling in communication with the media and fans. A Latvian’s communication and judgment skills are assessed throughout professional highway cycling. In addition, the best years of Skujiņa in professional highway cycling are yet to come.
The second candidate for the athletes’ commission is the 2012 world champion Philip Gilbert. The titled Belgian is also active in advocating for the rights of professional road cyclists. Next time, Gilbert will have a final season in professional sports. In the event of his election, he would spend three of the four years on the athletes’ commission as a cyclist.
It should be noted that so far none of the Latvian cyclists has served on the UCI athletic commissions. Toms Skujiņš will also start in the world championship next week, where he will be one of the four Latvian elite highway cyclists.
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