The Swiss Cycling Association is looking forward to a historic presidential election. On March 14, 2026, for the first time in its 142-year history, a woman will be elected president of the association. Two candidates have applied for the position: Marisa Reich, who has been on the Swiss Cycling board since 2021, and Luana Bergamin, who is president of the Bike World Cup Lenzerheide association and a former employee of the cycling association, among other things.

But now Swiss Cycling has excluded Marisa Reich from the election. More specifically, the Swiss Cycling single judge found during the review of her application that she violated Article 23b of the statutes, which requires that every board member must also belong to a cycling club. Reich therefore cannot be a member of the board or become president. In 2021, the German-born and internationally active sports official was elected to the Swiss Cycling board. Until now, her lack of club membership had not been a problem. Two weeks before the election, the current Swiss Cycling leadership is now pulling this paragraph out of its sleeve – although it can take the position that the sole judge is only applying the statutes correctly. Reich can no longer rectify her previously irrelevant club membership, as the application deadline has expired. The interesting thing about the exclusion is that Reich is considered an opponent of Swiss Cycling CEO Thomas Peter. Reich announced online that she would appeal the single judge's decision. She also states: "Anyone who takes on responsibility in Swiss sport must be allowed to ask critical questions about governance, finances, and ethics—if these very questions lead to threats, attempts at exclusion, and formal maneuvers, then we have a cultural problem, not a personal problem."

For the same reason of not being a club member, Ariane Previtali also loses her seat on the board with immediate effect, to which she had been elected at the delegates' meeting in March 2025. The requirement to belong to a cycling club also proves fatal for Andrew Thomas, who had applied for the position of vice president. The Mobility and Politics Department is vacant. The Mobility and Politics Department has been experiencing staff shortages for some time. At the beginning of 2025, there were still three people working there. Mathias Buchwalder's employment was temporary and expired after being extended. One of the co-directors, Lisia Bürgi, left Swiss Cycling in December 2025. The other, Paloma del Mar Kilchenmann, has decided to leave the association at the end of February 2026. She has been on maternity leave for the last few months.

When this development became apparent and Ride asked Swiss Cycling CEO Thomas Peter in November what was behind the departures from the department, which is important for popular mountain biking and its infrastructure, he dismissed the question, saying that such questions could only come from the small-minded mountain biking scene, which fails to see the "big picture."

So there are some big changes afoot at Swiss Cycling, and Marisa Reich's dismissal shows that the gloves are off. The delegates' meeting on March 14 could be lively.