You’ve probably never heard of Enrico Della Casa, and almost certainly don’t know what he looks like, but the Italian-Swiss is about to have his status as one of cycling’s most powerful men of the 2020s reinforced – and if events later this month turn out how cycling’s governors want and David Lappartient is elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Della Casa, the white-haired powerbroker fans know so little about, could be set to become the most powerful and influential man in cycling, with just about everyone in the know assuming he’d replace Lappartient as the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) president. “We’re all waiting for March 20,” he anxiously says.

First, though, on March 9, Della Casa is running unopposed to be reelected for the second time as the president of the European Cycling Union (UEC), a collection of 51 nations that organises various European Championships and represents the continent at the UCI. The 58-year-old speaker of five languages has worked in various capacities at the UEC since 2005, but it’s inside the UCI’s meeting rooms where he has become most prominent, sitting as one of two UCI vice-presidents and president of the governing body’s track commission since September 2021. In the corridors of influence, Della Casa wields enormous power.

This article was published on Rouleur on March 8, 2025. You can read the full article here.