National Cyclists' Union - Amateurism and The International Cyclists Association

Amateurism and The International Cyclists Association

The NCU was a founder member of the world’s first cycling authority, the International Cyclists Association. NCU championships, until 1937 open to riders from any country, had been considered the unofficial championships of the world. It was because the sport needed world championships independent of any national body that Henry Sturmey of the magazine The Cyclist and later founder of the Sturmey-Archer gear company proposed an International Cyclists Association in 1892. He approached other countries' cycling national associations through the NCU. The founding meeting was in London in November 1892, with representatives of the NCU and organisations in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Canada.

Not all were the main bodies in their home country. The largest French organisation, the Union Vélocipèdique Française, sent observers but was not allowed to take part because the NCU had broken off relationships with it over the question of amateurism. Countries objected to having one vote when Britain, with England, Scotland and Ireland each voting, had three.

France was due to promote the world championships in Paris in 1900. It refused to accept the NCU’s position and, after failing to have the issue discussed at an ICA meeting, convened a meeting in Paris to form the Union Cycliste Internationale. Not only would it permit just one team from the United Kingdom but the NCU and Britain's other governing bodies were excluded because they had not been at the founding meeting. It took until 1903 for Britain to be admitted.