UCI president attacks Thibau Nys and launches threat at cyclocross riders who do not race World Cups: "He will not participate in the next World Cup and therefore also not the cyclo-cross World Championships"
Cyclocross
The cyclocross world has seen some concerning words from UCI president David Lappartient, who is threatening new rule changes that will force the riders into participating in all World Cup races - following the ever-growing concerns of riders over the very long calendar.
“As far as the United States is concerned, I can understand that. That move for just one race is paralyzing. We must therefore create a combination with Canada as well. And for Val di Sole we also have to ensure that there is another cross nearby," Lappartient said in an interview with DirectVélo. His view on the topic is very clear, the UCI World Cup should be the priority for the main cyclocross riders, one way or another.
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Over recent years even seasoned riders such as Lars van der Haar have ignored the classification on the World Cup, because of it's expansion from 9 to 14 races. The calendar has become too filled, many (riders, coaches, staff) agree with that and ask for a reduction once again of the World Cup so that it is possible to be competitive all throughout the season and not have to make sacrifices.
However a reduction in races is not what Lappartient has in mind, but instead the plan seems to be to introduce consequences for those who opt to skip races. “If a cyclocross rider prefers a national competition while there is a World Cup, he will not participate in the next World Cup and therefore also not the cyclo-cross World Championships," he says. "The World Cup is not a competition where you can choose what you want to ride. Everyone just has to participate.”
These words are certain to cause a big stir within the sport. Not only because of declarations from riders recently, but also because the main stars - Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock - race only a small portion of the calendar and thus would automatically be excluded from the World Championships. Hence it is unclear the reasoning behind these statements.
However they were quite clear and Lappartient also talked about rising star Thibau Nys who decided to skip today's Dendermonde World Cup, but has raced the Jaarmarktcross this Saturday. “Nys had a bad result at the European Cyclocross Championships and says he is tired, but why would you ride in Niel on Saturday? If you're tired, you don't ride. Now Thibau Nys is someone who needs cyclocross, but he is not the only one who ignores World Cups.”
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When you think you are the important thing, not the riders.....
No problem with that, but make it law and NO exceptions, and it must b a cross all disciplines. Set a minimum, say 80%. If u don't partake in at least 80% of the Wc events, you don't qualify for world champs/Olympics.
...And there it is. I was just praising the UCI CEO for *not* taking this path and instead focusing on figuring out why the riders weren't riding the World Cup. And now the President is using threats. Well, too bad! That won't work. The riders will end up doing showing up to races without form or just to ride around the course, with no intention of racing. Or, they will do what they are doing now and be excluded from the World Championships, which will become a complete sham! These Euro control-freaks just hate the market, supply and demand, and want to force it to do what they desire, not realizing that they don't have the power. If you want people to participate more in your product, then make it better!
Perhaps the UCI could try to work with the riders, instead of against them. If you actually banned riders from competing in the World Championships if they didn't compete in all of the World Cup events, then you'd end up with an incredibly boring race devoid of the best riders in the world.
This is exactly what is wrong with the UCI. It is a dictatorship
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