Brian Cookson Interview

Earlier this week I was at the Tour de Yorkshire launch in Halifax and was determined to use the opportunity to film the first broadcast interview with Brian Cookson since he lost the UCI (world cycling's governing body) presidency. I had prepared the areas I wanted to ask him about. Among many other things, he said Sir Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky should have their reputations "reinstated" following unproven doping allegations. Here's a clip from my tweet...

In his 1st broadcast interview since losing UCI presidency Brian Cookson told me Wiggins & Team Sky should have their reputations "reinstated" following unproven doping allegations. I started by asking him about Shane Sutton's comments on using TUES to "find the gains" #cycling pic.twitter.com/GkgC5J9sQu

— Mark Ansell (@MarkAnsell) December 6, 2017

An extensive article on the BBC Sport website used practically the whole interview. After the BBC's Sports Editor Dan Roan tweeted about my interview, it went viral.

Cookson on Wiggins & Team Sky... good work by @MarkAnsell of @BBCLookNorth https://t.co/Hml3qOTihU

— Dan Roan (@danroan) December 6, 2017

My interview was picked up by The Times and many cycling websites including Cycling Weekly: http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/reputations-team-sky-bradley-wiggins-reinstated-jiffy-bag-investigation-says-cookson-361669 

Cycling News: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brian-cookson-calls-for-wiggins-reputation-to-be-reinstated/

And TCNEWS in France: https://todaycycling.com/brian-cookson-ex-president-de-luci-veut-retablir-la-reputation-de-bradley-wiggins/  


More than a week and a half after my interview with Cookson, newspapers were still quoting it. Following the interview, Cookson admitted he knew of Chris Froome’s adverse analytical finding for salbutamol before telling me Team Sky's reputation "should be reinstated":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/12/16/former-uci-president-brian-cookson-knew-chris-froome-failed/

This just shows that if you can secure interviews with the right person at the right time and know the right questions to ask, your story can have a big impact.