"I will never answer this guy" - UCI President Lappartient under fire following apparent blocking of journalist Iain Treloar from World Championships

Iain Treloar is an Autralia-based journalist for CyclingTips, who was set to report on the Wollongong World Championships at home. His participation was however denied, with no clear indication as for the why, in what appears to be a personal feud between him and UCI President David Lappartient.

“Two points. The first one is that it’s exactly the UCI policy for the accreditations, it has been published, it’s three per newspaper and from what I understand CyclingTips already have three journalists,” Lappartient said in a recent interview. “Every newspaper is here with three journalists." Contrary to his statement however, it is known that other outlets have taken up to seven members into Wollongong, raising questions over the sincerity of the UCI president. 

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Treloar is a journalist in CyclingTips, focusing on long features which regularly go through controversial subjects within the background of the cycling world. This seems to be the clear reason for the denial, as Lappartient added mentioned that “here are always big stories on CyclingTips but never in favor of the UCI," showing a clear sign of knowledge regarding the journalist in question.

“I never read CyclingTips to be honest. I don’t care about CyclingTips to be honest. It’s not a serious one for me. We don’t answer to CyclingTips. I will never answer this guy," Lappartient said, responding quite directly to the accusations. "He is someone you can’t trust at least. I think that he wakes up in the morning to destroy the institution. He can live his life, but I don’t care about this.”

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The president of the UCI has questioned Treloar's credentials as a journalist, in a move that is causing widespread outrage over several colleagues - from his and different outlets - and further fuels the fears many have over the current state of independent journalism.

“This guy is sitting in Australia sipping a beer. What have they done for this? I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’ve nothing to report to him. He can continue to write bad things about the UCI. To be honest, I don’t care but if there’s something then I won’t close my eyes to it," Lappartient said.