Brian Cookson was today elected President of the UCI at its congress in Florence by 24 votes to 18.
Currently the chair of British Cycling, a post which he has held since 1997, Brian takes up his position with immediate effect.
On the news of his election win, Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “I am delighted that Brian Cookson has been successfully elected as UCI President, which is one of the most important and influential positions in international sport.
“Through UK Sport’s international relations programme we work with more than 30 Olympic and Paralympic sports to encourage British leaders to play a full role in the good governance of international sport.”
Speaking after the result was announced, Brian Cookson said: “It is a huge honour to have been elected President of the UCI by my peers and I would like to thank them for the trust they have placed in me today.
"The campaign to get to this point has been intense but I am under no illusion that the real work starts now. So I call on the global cycling community to unite and come together to help ensure that our great sport realises its enormous potential. This is the vision that will drive and focus my activities over the next four years.
“I have said throughout my campaign that we must embrace a new style of governance and a collegiate way of working so that a new era of growth and commercial success for the UCI and our sport can begin.
"My first priorities as President will be to make anti-doping procedures in cycling fully independent, sit together with key stakeholders in the sport and work with WADA to ensure a swift investigation into cycling’s doping culture.
“It is by doing these things that we will build a firm platform to restore the reputation of our International Federation with sponsors, broadcasters, funding partners, host cities and the International Olympic Committee. Ultimately this is how we grow our sport worldwide and get more riders and fans drawn into cycling.
UK Sport invested over £30million of National Lottery and Exchequer funds into British Cycling for London 2012 which resulted in 12 Olympic and 19 Paralympic medals being won.