Last Sunday (12), through an interview with DirectVelo, the president of the Union Internationale Cycliste (UCI), David Lappartient, suggested the imposition of new rules to prevent professional sport riders from choosing which competitions they will participate in. The measure is directly related to the Cyclocross World Championship and next year’s World Cup.
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The possibility of the new measure was a response to cyclist Thibau Nys who chose not to participate in the third stage of the Cyclocross World Cup, which took place on Sunday (12), in Dendermonde – Belgium, due to his presence in the Superprestige race, in Niel, last day. The athlete justified that he was tired to be present in the phase mentioned above.
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In response to the cyclist’s absence, David Lappartient, commented on the decision questioning Thibau Nys’ decision: “When you’re tired, you don’t ride. That’s why I understand there are rest periods in the season. I don’t want to stigmatize him because Thibau Nys is a rider that cyclocross needs. But he’s not the only one skipping the World Cup. If it doesn’t work, there are definitely things to improve.”
In view of the event, the businessman considered applying a new rule that would prevent athletes from skipping phases or matches, as well as being banned from competing in the UCI World Championship, later this season, and in the UCI World Cup races, which will be held in February.
“If a driver prefers to participate in a national event during the World Cup stages, you will not participate in the subsequent World Cup stages and therefore will not participate in the World Championship. The World Cup is not a competition where you can choose whatever you want. Every driver has to play the game,” said David Lappartient.
The institution’s president’s speech caused discomfort among several professionals in the category, including the UCI’s sporting director, Peter Van den Abeele, who in an interview with the Sporza website, explained that the solution is not as good as imagined and stated that attitudes such as by Thibau Nys may seem like a joke to competitions that are extremely important in cycling.