"Everyone in cycling saw what happened" - Johan Bruyneel baffled by UCI's decision to relegate Marie Schreiber at cyclocross European Championships
Cyclocross
The controversy surrounding the women’s European Cyclocross Championships continues to provoke reactions. One of the strongest voices has been Johan Bruyneel, who publicly questioned the performance of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) commissaires after their decision ultimately take the victory from Marie Schreiber.
The Belgian pundit believes the Luxembourg racer should never have been relegated - in words said on X. He sees an opportunity for the international governing body to show it is willing to admit its mistakes. Bruyneel was particularly critical of the judges’ ruling and called on the UCI to reverse a decision he considers unjust.
“What happened today at the women’s European Cyclocross Championships offers the UCI the perfect opportunity to show whether it can use common sense, do the right thing and overturn an absurd decision by its commissaires,” he wrote on social media.
Marie Schreiber and Lucinda Brand headed to the final straight isolated from the rest of the field, and had a head-to-head sprint to decide the European title. Schreiber won the sprint, but her movement to the left during the sprint was seen as too much, and she was ultimately relegated to second place.
The former sports director stressed that what happened was clear to everyone who followed the race, from fans to professionals. He pointed in particular to Lucinda Brand’s reaction. She was declared the winner after the jury’s decision.
Marie Schreiber appeared to take victory at the end of the elite women's race
Bruyneel also points to Lucinda Brand
As Bruyneel recalled, the Dutchwoman made it clear that, in her view, Schreiber had done nothing wrong. For the Belgian, that should give those in charge of the competition even more reason to reflect.
“Everyone in cycling saw what happened. Marie Schreiber should never have been relegated. Even Lucinda Brand, declared the winner after the jury’s decision, made it clear that, in her opinion, Schreiber had done nothing wrong,” he said.
Bruyneel does not believe commissaires are incapable of making mistakes. His criticism goes beyond this specific error and directly challenges the UCI to acknowledge that one of its own officials can make the wrong call, and to act accordingly.
“Commissaires can make mistakes. The real test is whether the UCI has the humility to admit them and the courage to correct them. An unjust decision should not stand simply because one of its own made it,” he added.
Read also
The Belgian ended his message with another rebuke to the international governing body, urging it to put sporting fairness ahead of protecting its own officials. He made no secret, however, of his doubts that it would change its position.
“Let’s see if, for once, they can put fairness ahead of protecting their officials. I’m not holding my breath,” Bruyneel concluded, adding a yawning emoji.
Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
1 Comments