Lappartient and UCI hide behind so-called 'Olympic values' on Israel question

David Lappartient was returned unopposed this week for a third term as UCI president, having previously served as president of the French cycling federation and the European Cycling Union. 

He was elected president of the Morbihan department in Brittany in 2021, having previously served as mayor of Sarzeau. This year, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, having previously served as head of the French Olympic Committee.

We know by now that David Lappartient stands for elections – but does he stand for anything else? It’s hard to say with any certainty after his annual press conference at the World Championships in Kigali on Friday. 

The most pressing issue currently facing the UCI president – and his counterparts in all sporting federations – is the question of Israel’s participation in international sport amid the country’s ongoing invasion of Gaza.

The governing body had all but ignored the issue for the past two years, but that silence was no longer tenable after events at the Vuelta a España. The presence of the Israel-Premier Tech squad was protested on a daily basis in Spain, leading to the cancellation of the final stage after the safety of the Vuelta peloton had repeatedly been put at risk.

During the race, there was one mealy-mouthed statement but no action from the UCI. Instead, it was left to the Vuelta organisation and the riders themselves to try to navigate a crisis far above their paygrade.

The UCI finally made a firmer pronouncement after the Vuelta had finished, and it was contradictory at best. Notably, the statement heaped blame on the Spanish government, led by Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party, which had supported peaceful protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“The UCI strongly condemns the exploitation of sport for political purposes in general, and especially coming from a government,” read the statement from the UCI – an organisation, let’s not forget, that is led by a man who simultaneously holds political office in France having run as a candidate for the right-wing Les Republicains party.

Lappartient’s press conference in Kigali on Friday offered journalists an opportunity to seek further clarification on the UCI’s stance on Israel’s participation. The Frenchman was clear that Israel and Israel-Premier Tech would not be barred from participating in international cycling, claiming that such an action would be “a breach of Olympic values,” an echo of the UCI’s post-Vuelta statement.

“According to the Olympic values, sport is not a tool for sanction,” Lappartient said. “Sport is a tool for unity and to bring people together. If we accept that we become a tool for sanction, then it will be a big problem.”

So-called ‘Olympic values’ are a highly nebulous concept, of course, and abdicating responsibility to the IOC for any decision on Israel is simply sporting realpolitik at play. Cycling, like just about every sport outside of football, doesn’t take action on such matters without the imprimatur of the IOC. Lappartient’s attempted justification of the approach, however, served only to highlight its hypocrisy. 

The UCI – and IOC’s – inaction on Israel contrasts markedly with the relatively swift decision to ban Russia and Belarus from international sport in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That ban also saw the Gazprom team disband in mid-season, though Igor Makarov remained a member of the UCI’s Management Committee even after the Australian and Canadian governments placed him on a list of sanctioned individuals. (Makarov has since renounced his Russian citizenship in favour of Cypriot citizenship).

Lappartient claimed on Friday that Russia had been barred from international sport simply because the country had invaded Ukraine during the so-called ‘Olympic Truce’ between that year’s Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing.

“For Russia, it was different,” Lappartient said. “The attack from the Russian government against the Ukrainian territory happened during the Olympic Truce. And the Olympic Truce was a resolution approved by the United Nations unanimously.”

Israel’s invasion of Gaza was ongoing by the time of the last ‘Olympic Truce’, either side of the Paris Games in 2024, and it continued during that period. Indeed, as well as continuing military attacks on Gaza, Israel also attacked Lebanon and Yemen during the last ‘Olympic Truce.’

Lappartient offered a high-handed defence of the hole in his logic, suggesting it was beyond the understanding of the general public. 

“Of course, people today say ‘Look, there is a war, the sanction was taken because Russia is at war and there is no sanction for other territories or countries,’ but that’s just legally different,” Lappartient said. “It’s sometimes difficult to explain in the street to everybody, but it’s legally different.”

It’s certainly morally difficult to explain in the street to everybody. Over 65,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza almost two years ago in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations on Friday, in which he vowed to “finish the job” in Gaza, prompted a mass walk-out of diplomats. During the Vuelta, Netanyahu had issued a statement in support of Sylvan Adams and his Israel-Premier Tech team.

“We also have to be very careful that our teams are not used to bring any other kind of message,” said Lappartient, who added that he will soon meet with Adams. Premier Tech and bike supplier Factor have both indicated they will withdraw their backing of the team if it continues to operate under the ‘Israel’ name.

“I think it’s important to debrief what happened, what are the solutions for next year, because we also have to be realistic,” Lappartient said. “I will discuss with him, but I will not anticipate what we will discuss.”

Earlier in his press conference, Lappartient claimed that “politicisation of sport is really a big danger,” though he accepted that it would be “naive to think that there is no politics in sport.”

Don’t we know it. Rwandan president Paul Kagame was the keynote speaker at the UCI Congress this week, after all.

An Amnesty International report for 2024-25 indicated that there was evidence of torture and enforced disappearance of dissidents in Rwanda, and the country is currently ranked 146th in the World Press Freedom Index. A Belgian journalist accredited for the World Championships by the UCI was barred from entering the country by the Rwandan government due to his reporting.

That’s the thing about so-called ‘Olympic values.’ They mean whatever you choose them to mean.