Career
Administratively, Cookson has held the following offices. Division Road Race Secretary, 1981-1985. Division Vice Chairman 1984-1987.
Division Chairman 1993-1997.
BCF Racing and Executive Committees 1984-1993. BCF Executive Committee/Board 1996–present.
He has represented cycling at the British Olympic Association since 1996. Cookson qualified as a UCI International Commissaire (ie judge/referee) in 1986, working on events such as the Tour of Britain, the Milk Race, the Warsaw-Berlin-Prague Peace Race and stage races in Australia, South Africa, Germany, Spain, France.
Brian has also been involved in World Championships in France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the Barcelona Olympic Games.
Internationally, he was elected to the UCI Management Committee in 2009, and was appointed as President of the UCI Cyclo-Cross Commission from 2009 to 2011, then President of the UCI Road Commission from 2011 to present. Cookson made a statement following the doping scandals of the 2007 Tour de France, urging the organisers not to give up the fight for a clean sport. He also said that "At British Cycling, we have always taken a very strong anti-doping stance throughout all our structures, from the elite Podium level, right the way through to our coaching and development programmes for youngsters."
Cookson announced on 4 June 2013 that he would be running for election as President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) - the international federation for the sport of cycling.
Cookson was elected at the annual Congress in Florence, Italy, on 27 September 2013.
As a competitor, Cookson competed in road racing, track, cyclo-cross and MTB. The high point of his competitive career was winning the Lakeland Division Road Race championship in 1971. More recently he has completed a number of sportive events, including l"Etape du Tour, the Fred Whitton Challenge and the Ride with Brad.
He completed the Pyrenees Coast to Coast ride in 2011, and competed in the National Masters Track and Road Championships in 2012. As an official, Cookson has organised or chaired the organising committee of events continuously since 1969, from club level to Premier Calendar.
In 2010, for example, he chaired the Pendle Cycle Fest, which included the National Road Championships, the Colne General Practice circuit race, the Pendle Pedal sportive, and a summer-long programme of Sky Local rides for families.
Cookson was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year’s s List for services to cycling, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire in 2009.