The world of cycling is one that has many twists and turns around every corner, and although most riders and figures are typically media trained and avoid getting into controversial topics and sharing their personal opinions on controversial figures, this does happen. Now, UCI president David Lappartient has taken to his official X account to share a post in support of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy… Who is currently imprisoned.
Lappartient is no stranger to controversial stances, recently catching a lot of heat for his stance on the Kigali World Championships where he proudly stood side by side and shared posts congratulating and thanking Rwandan president Paul Kagame for his role in the event. Kagame has been the president of Rwanda since the year 2000 and the east-African nation is widely considered to be a dictatorship, with a one-party rule since 1994, which has been widely disregarded by the UCI throughout the past years. There have been cases of journalists who were not allowed to travel for the World Championships such as VRT’s Stijn Vercruysse which he believes is due to his criticism of the Rwanda’s government in the past.
When it comes to UCI statements, several people take part in what is the sport’s governing bodies’ official position however in his social media accounts, there is no denying what are Lappartient’s personal opinions. Today he has been swarmed by criticism once again after sharing a post in support of disgraced former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy who has been jailed yesterday.
“I have a friendly thought for my friend Nicolas Sarkozy on this special day. He is an immense servant of France, which he loves so deeply. I can testify to his energy, enthusiasm and courage. He loves people! See you soon on the bike. Sincere friendship!” This is, putting aside the fact that Sarkozy has just began serving a five-year prison sentence over a scheme to obtain campaign funds from Lybia back in 2007, allegedly from the at the time Lybian government of Muammar Gaddafi.
David Lappartient. @Sirotti