Joe Bajada handed post in European Cycling Union

Joe Bajada has retained his post in the European Cycling Union as the secretary general of the Malta Cycling Federation will be one of 15 delegates who will have the right to vote on behalf of the 50 European affiliated countries during the annual general congress of the International Federation Cycling Championships which will be held in Belgium next September.

These delegates will be joined by another 30 from another four confederations, namely ACC (Asia), COPACI (Pan America), CAC (Africa), and the OCC (Oceania).

In this election, 29 delegates were nominated from different governing bodies within the UEC, where 15 had to be elected.

Due to changes in the European federation statute, the first four women and men were elected with the other seven candidates, with the highest number of votes, joining them.

Along with Bajada, the other delegates elected were Alejandro Martin Garcia (Spain), Umberto Langellotti (Monaco), Lucia Trevisan (Italy), Victoria Lesnikova (Russia), Thierry Marechal (Belgium), Walter Baldiserra (San Marino), Camille Dahm (Luxembourg), Livia Hanesova (Slovakia), Raivo Rand (Estonia), José Luís Costa Mendes Ribeiro (Portugal), Tomislav Zadro (Croatia), Csilla Tam (Hun), Jaroslava Krakovičová (Czech Republic) and Vitali Zhmako (Belarus).

During this congress, a new UEC president was also elected, Italian Enrico Della Casa, who for the last eight years has been the Secretary-General of the organisation. Della Casa was not contested as the previous president, Swiss Rocco Cataneo, decided not to re-contest.

Executive Committee posts

Added to that six members were elected into the Executive Committee, namely Henrik Jess Jensen (Denmark), Delmino Albano Magalhães Pereira (Portugal), Alexander Gusyatnikov (Russia), Dragomir Gusyatnikov (Bulgaria), Katarina Jakubova (Slovenia) and Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus).

“I am very pleased with this result,” Bajada said in a statement.

“I thank all the 37 European countries that have once again shown full confidence in me with their vote so that now I will be able to represent them during the next UCI Congress which is scheduled to be held in Belgium next September, where no elections are planned.

“This result is a personal satisfaction and a huge milestone for the Malta Cycling Federation. It also reflects my hard work which has been appreciated on the international scene.

“I dedicate this result to my mother Giovanna, who passed away recently and my whole family for their continuous support. I would like to thank president Joe Zammit and the whole Malta Cycling Federation for their backing.”