Cycling Worlds in Zurich: big hiccups from the organization

It was during the mixed relay of the World Road Cycling Championships in Switzerland that an imbroglio sequence took place during a handover. The commissioners are not exempt from all reproach.

The Belgian and Dutch media – always attentive to everything concerning the little queen – had a field day. “Amateurism at its peak,” was the title of the The Algemeen Dagblad about the scene of confusion encountered on Wednesday during the mixed relay of the Road Cycling Worlds.

Introduced in 2019 and still unpopular, the event begins with the men’s team time trial. A trio completes a first lap of the circuit and launches the members of the women’s team as the first two runners pass on the finish line. They in turn cover the same distance.

However in Zurich on Wednesday, there was a hiccup during the handover of the Algerians. When the men arrived, with a considerable delay, the women were not present on the launching pad. On the other hand, there were the women of the World Cycling Center team on one of the two starting lanes, because the CMC boys – who left 12 minutes after Algeria – were also close to the goal, two minutes behind . We do not know exactly if the Algerians were late or if the commissioners, rushed by the passage times, called the wrong team to show up.

The women of the Algerian team took the start a few minutes late. This caused erroneous times during the second part of the race, both for Algeria and the CMC structure, based in Aigle. Fortunately, these two teams did not play for the first places and the times could be adjusted manually afterwards. However, it is not certain that this episode will reassure the nations who, since the introduction of the mixed relay, have had preconceptions about this race format.

In Zurich, the world title went to Australia ahead of Germany and Italy. Switzerland, double defending champion, had to settle for eighth place in the absence of its best players.

(roc)

Two Swiss teams (men’s and women’s) are currently competing in the Homeless World Cup in Seoul. A tournament where the important thing is not to score goals.

64 teams from 49 nations compete in the “Homeless World Cup” between September 21 and 28 in Seoul. What all participants have in common: they live on the margins of society.