Brian Cookson wins International Cycling Union presidential election after defeating Pat McQuaid Initially struggling with the emotional impact of his win, Cookson said: "It is a huge honour to have been elected president of the UCI by my peers and I would like to thank them for the trust they have placed in me today." The campaign to get to this point has been intense but I am under no illusion that the real work starts now. So I call on the global cycling community to unite and come together to help ensure that our great sport realises its enormous potential. This is the vision that will drive and focus my activities over the next four years. I have said throughout my campaign that we must embrace a new style of governance and a collegiate way of working so that a new era of growth and commercial success for the UCI and our sport can begin. My first priorities as president will be to make anti-doping procedures in cycling fully independent, sit together with key stakeholders in the sport and work with Wada to ensure a swift investigation into cycling's doping culture. It is by doing these things that we will build a firm platform to restore the reputation of our International Federation with sponsors, broadcasters, funding partners, host cities and the International Olympic Committee. Ultimately this is how we grow our sport worldwide and get more riders and fans drawn into cycling. Finally, while there have been some difficult moments between myself and my opponent Pat McQuaid during this election contest, I would like to thank Pat for the contribution he has made to cycling during his long career. I wish him well in whatever he goes on to do. McQuaid also congratulated Cookson on his win, despite what had been one of the most controversial and acrimonious election campaigns in recent memory. Friday provided a fitting climax with a tortuous display of infighting, legalese and high farce which one delegate described as a "masquerade." It centred around Article 51 of the UCI constitution, which sets out the conditions under which presidential candidates can stand and McQuaid had controversially interpreted meant he could be nominated by several federations after Cycling Ireland refused to back him. What began as a polite meeting heated up when the head of the UCI's ethics commission delivered a report which focused heavily on accusations raised during the presidential election campaign. After admonishing McQuaid for a letter he wrote to federation presidents questioning Cookson's links to Russian oligarch Igor Makarov, Peter Zevenbergen then raised the spectre of the elusive dossier of evidence on the UCI president. Zevenbergen accused Makarov - who commissioned the dossier - and US management committee member Mike Plant - who presented it at a meeting in June - of deliberately withholding it from the ethics commission. Makarov recently claimed the commission was too close to McQuaid to be independent but Zevenbergen denied this and his criticisms seemed to have the support of the majority of the room. The Dutchman then announced the commission was looking at allegations Greece was offered 25,000 euros to vote for Cookson but said these had only occurred yesterday. Zevenbergen denied leaking details of this to the media after dramatically proposing congress should "think twice" before proceeding with the presidential election due to the outstanding investigations into both candidates. The meeting descended into farce the moment discussions began on amending the UCI constitution regarding the nomination of candidates. Seconds before a vote was due to take place, New Zealand delegate Richard Leggat intervened to call for any vote to be delayed until next year and not during an existing presidential election. Several delegates weighed in on opposite sides of a passionate argument - including a spat between McQuaid and Makarov - leaving UCI lawyer Philippe Verbeist floundering and forcing him to check the constitution. After agreeing that a vote to postpone a subsequent vote could be taken - and after deciding whether this should be done by secret vote - a vote was taken that ended in a remarkable 21-21 tie. How the chaotic presidential election played out ...