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UCI President David Lappartient has misplaced quite a lot of followers this weekend after an interview through which he steered riders ought to be penalized for lacking World Cup races throughout cyclocross season.
Prompted by Thibault Nys electing to skip Sunday’s World Cup race in Dendermonde whereas nonetheless exhibiting up at Saturday’s Superprestige Niel race, Lappartient informed DirectVelo that riders ought to be penalized for skipping World Cups. Nevertheless, in a season that options 14 rounds of World Cup racing—some within the U.S. and out of doors of continental Europe—it may be difficult for groups and riders to decide to a full World Cup season.
“The World Cup shouldn’t be a contest in which you’ll be able to decide and select as you please. Each rider has to play the sport,” Lappartient stated within the (translated) interview. “If a rider prefers to experience a nationwide occasion throughout a World Cup, then they maybe received’t experience the next World Cup rounds and due to this fact received’t experience the World Championships.”
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So, racers need to race. What’s the issue?
With so many races on the schedule, together with Nationwide Championships, European Championships, Pan-Am Championships, collection together with the Superprestige and Trofee races, plus a seemingly unending variety of UCI C1 and C2 unbiased races, there are dozens of races to select from when planning a schedule.
For a lot of groups and riders, cash is a big issue: Journey to races—whether or not meaning going forwards and backwards to Europe for Individuals or European racers coming stateside for World Cups—may be cost-prohibitive for all however probably the most well-supported racers. Cyclocross isn’t a lightweight sport: It requires two bikes, a number of wheelsets, and on the elite degree, it’s crucial to BYOM (carry your personal mechanic).
There’s additionally the difficulty of highway and mountain bike commitments. We’d like to see the fan response when Lappartient tells Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van der Poel and Thomas Pidcock that they will’t participate in World Cups or World Championships as a result of they skipped the primary couple. The identical is true for Pauline Ferrand Prevot, Lucinda Model, Puck Pieterse and Marianne Vos on the ladies’s aspect.
Even the present World Cup chief Lars Van der Haar is not in favor of this plan. “If I begin doing all the things, if I proceed to do all the things, I feel I’ll in the end destroy myself fully,” he informed WielerFlits in response to Lappartient’s interview.
Some commenters additionally identified the plain situation of absence as a result of sickness and harm: Would a rider want a physician’s observe if they’ve a damage knee or a case of COVID to be able to skip a race with out risking their shot at Worlds?
Different racers identified that maybe 14 World Cups is just too many World Cups and if the UCI needs to enhance attendance, dropping the variety of races would be the higher resolution. Chopping down on the variety of races would enable riders to not have to choose and select fairly as usually to be able to construction their season successfully. Riders additionally known as on Lappartient to start discussions with riders themselves, fairly than speaking to the press and making veiled threats.
Maybe most chopping of all was the commentary from GOAT Sven Nys—that’s proper, Thibault’s dad has joined the dialog—when he informed Wielerflits, “I feel that riders ought to have the correct to make their very own decisions… Particularly relating to younger riders, as a result of that is additionally my very own son.”
Molly writes about biking, diet and coaching, with an emphasis on ladies in sport. Her new middle-grade collection, Shred Ladies, debuts with Rodale Youngsters/Random Home in 2019 with “Lindsay’s Joyride.” Her different books embody “Mud, Snow and Cyclocross,” “Saddle, Sore” and “Gas Your Journey.” Her work has been printed in magazines like Bicycling, Exterior and Nylon. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast.
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