Following a world-wide search, Trudy Lindblade has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
Taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland in August 2023, the Championships is set to be the biggest single cycling event in history, bringing together 13 existing individual World Championship cycling disciplines into one mega event, for the first time.
The Championships is more than just an event and will celebrate the unique power of the bike and all it can bring to our everyday lives, whether it's physical and mental health benefits, easing congestion on the road to help the environment, or simply making it easier for people to get around.
Underpinned by four key policy drivers - participation, transport, tourism and economy - the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be a catalyst for behavioural change across Scotland moving forward.
Trudy's strong background and experience working on complex large-scale major events, designed to support government ambitions to deliver social and economic change, makes her the ideal person for the job.
Currently the Head of Event Management at Visit Victoria, Trudy will bring a wealth of event experience to the position having spent more than 20 years leading, planning and delivering major events in Australia and around the world, working with government's, local organising committees, event hosts and international and national sports federations in the process.
In particular, her work on cycling events spans over twelve years and includes senior roles at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships, the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships as well as Cycling Australia.
More recently she has spent over seven years working for one of the world's leading events acquisition groups, Victorian Major Events Company (VMEC), now Visit Victoria, and was pivotal in the establishment of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in 2015, now the opening one-day race on the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women's WorldTour calendars.
Trudy also has a strong cultural events background, taking over the reins of the all-night festival 'White Night Melbourne' in 2017 and overseeing the creation of supporting regional White Night events.
As CEO of the Championships, Trudy will have overall executive responsibility for the planning and delivery of the event. She will report directly to the Chair of Championships Board and will manage all the senior management positions including the Director of Sport, Director of Operations and Director of Commercial, Marketing and Communications currently being recruited. Trudy will take up her position on 26 October 2020 and will relocate to Glasgow with her family from Melbourne, Australia.
Paul Bush OBE, Chair of 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, said: "On behalf of all the partners, I would like to congratulate Trudy on her appointment as CEO of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships and we look forward to welcoming her to Scotland very soon. This is another key milestone on our journey to the Championships and concludes a global search, much of which was undertaken at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Trudy's vast event experience, particularly in delivering both UCI and mass participation cycling events, makes her the ideal candidate to establish and lead the Championships team. We have a bold ambition to use the event as a catalyst for significant change and progress in Scotland, by continuing to transform the nation and make cycling part of people's normal, everyday lives and Trudy is the right person to help us achieve this."
Trudy Lindblade said: "Playing a leading role in such an innovative and unique event will be a wonderful opportunity. This is particularly so as the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be the single biggest global cycling event to date, and one that has transformational change at its core bringing longer term benefits to Scotland through the areas of health, transport, education, sustainability and tourism. I look forward to working with all Event Partners as well as local towns and regions to showcase Scotland's world class event delivery and tourism credentials to the world through the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships."
Trudy's appointment follows last week's announcement of the five Non-Executive Directors and one Co-opted member to join the Championships Board of Directors.
Rupert Dickinson, Alexandra Innes, David Hornby, Nick Peel and Susan Ahern have all taken up their roles as Non-Executive Directors on the Board, while five-times BMX and Track Cycling World Champion, Shanaze Reade, will also be joining the Board this month as a Co-Opted Board Member.
