Peter Van den Abeeleresponsible for “Off Road” of l'UCI for BMX, mountain biking and cyclo-cross, announced that theUCI considered the possibility of sanctioning cyclo-cross cyclists who deliberately choose not to participate in certain rounds of the World Cup. Last year, the president of theUCI, David Lappartienthad already threatened to impose sanctions, such as a ban on starting during the races of the World Cup or World Championships cyclo-cross, but these measures were ultimately not applied. In the meantime, certain rules have already been put in place: the number of rounds has been considerably reduced in order to encourage riders to participate in as many races as possible; similarly, professional teams must now have at least 3 riders participating in all rounds of the World Cup.
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“Involve the runners more”
Peter Van den Abeele spoke about these changes to The Newspaper : “We want to involve riders more in the UCI World Cup and encourage them to participate in the rounds. This is why we have decided, in consultation with the rights holder, Flanders Classics, to reduce the number of rounds this year and to tighten the period during which they take place, in order to have a more compact World Cup”.
He also discussed the difficulty of adapting to the schedule of other events, such as X²O Trophy or the Super prestige : “It's unfortunate when we explore new territories and disappoint the local public because few or no top riders are at the start. This benefits no one, and especially not the discipline itself. […] We must find the right balance between the offer in Belgium and internationally. Now there is also a clear hierarchy between the different rankings.”
“We could go even further…”
Finally, individual cyclists who choose not to participate in certain rounds will not yet be sanctioned: “If we see that this trend continues and this rule is circumvented, then we could go even further and consider even stricter measures. But to be honest, I don't think that will be necessary. I believe that the “The current balance suits everyone. Personally, it seems inconceivable that a full-time cyclo-cross rider would not participate in all the races.
