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"If the World Cup is seen as a toy, then we have a problem" - UCI CEO unhappy about the vast cancellations of riders
CyclocrossFriday, 10 November 2023 at 10:33
Although the UCI World Cup has long been seen as arguably the premier series on the cyclocross calendar, UCI CEO Peter Van den Abeele is growing more and more frustrated at the increasing number of cancellations from riders.
"Lars van der Haar said after his victory in Maasmechelen that he is dropping the World Cup rankings. Thibau Nys prefers the Superprestige in Niel over the World Cup in Dendermonde. I respect riders who say they choose to take a rest. But penalizing the World Cup for a different ranking? If the World Cup is seen as a toy, then we have a problem," laments Van den Abeele in conversation with Sporza.
Two World Cup crosses have been so far this season at the time of writing, Nys victorious in Waterloo and van der Haar taking victory in Maasmechelen. With the big names such as Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock yet to debut this campaign and the likes of the aforementioned World Cup winners debating whether or not to really compete in the competition this season, Van den Abeele is concerned.
“That is not good for anyone, not even for cyclo-cross as a discipline. However, nowhere can they win as much prize money as in the Cyclo-Cross World Cup. Then something goes wrong, right?" Van den Abeele comments. "We will also look in the mirror ourselves."
So how to fix this issue? “Should performance in the World Cup be rewarded with more points? Should we bundle the World Cup cross races in a shorter period so that all the top riders can be there, for example from December to the last weekend before the World Cup? These are all matters that I urgently want to discuss with Flanders Classics and other major players from the cyclo-cross world,” the CEO assesses.
“We will make those decisions with the highest priority so that they can be approved at the World Championship (early February in Tábor, ed.). This way they will come into effect next season.”
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- I counted 16 riders under 24 out of 43 that started. Once was only 16 ! Two of the top riders are Zoe and Schreiber and both under 23 yet that have done 50 min races in the past with the elites so I think it's just bad clock management. Let them race 50 freakin' minutes! One more lap could have made a big dffierence most times in the podium and winner.frieders319-11-2024
- He needs to finish out his contract and then go hit MTB and Cross/Gravel really hard, that's where his heart is.awp18-11-2024
- Pidcock is starting to sound like Froome now.Sweep18-11-2024
- I think this was because there were junior women in the race. If a race has junior women am pretty sure it has to be less than 45 minutes. I believe a rule is coming in for next season that will fine organisers that don't put on a junior women's race a fine equivalent to the prize money. So fingers crossed we should see more longer elite and junior women's races from next season.NorrisHippocampe18-11-2024
- Of course he CAN. Big salary in cycling is not when you win but when they talk about you (and your team / sponsors). For every news about Jonas, MVdP or Wout there are 10 times more(!) news about Pidcock (like everyday for last 2 months?). Since cycling is advertising sport not competitive sport (in terms of from money comes from) Pidcock is winner and GOAT - change my mind. ;-)averagecyclist18-11-2024
- Why do the women CXs keep getting short changed with the length of theor races? They could have easily done another lap to put them at 50 minutes which is their time limit. Yet another CX race where they fail to reach this when they had a chance to. Come on ... the math isn't that hard to figure out lap times and divide into 50 min!frieders318-11-2024
- All pro cyclists are massively underpaid! The amount of riding and physical exertion they put their bodies through is crazy compared to other sports. I can't think of any other sport where you are physically active at a very high level of power output for hours on end each day.Pogboom17-11-2024
- When I was working for Starkist/Heinz my manager quit. So the next week my group was put under another manager. During our first meeting he asked if there was anything we needed to tell him. I said that I would be out the following week on vacation. He said "I don't know if I can let you go on vacation". I replied, "You can't tell if I can go. You can only tell me if I can come back".Sweep17-11-2024
- :-)Sweep17-11-2024
- What a mess there :-)
DareDevil17-11-2024