An 11th-hour rule change by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is rubbing a lot of riders the wrong way. The UCI announced it would “adapt” the rule for allocating positions on the start grid for Saturday’s elite XCO mountain bike world championships. The change moves three riders, Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock and Peter Sagan, from near the back of the start grid to the fifth row.
Position on the start grid is critical in mountain biking as riders are quickly squeezed from rows of eight riders on the start grid into single file for sections of singletrack. Getting stuck behind a bottleneck off the start could be disastrous for a rider like van der Poel as they try to move up to the front of the race.
Not the rule, but the timing
The last-minute change, announced just one day before the world championships race, is, unsurprisingly, ruffling some feathers among the mountain bikers. Nino Schurter responded saying that, while he’s happy to have riders from “different disciplines at the start line,” making such a consequential rule change the day before the race is disrespectful to racers and the discipline of mountain biking.
“I and all 40 members from the MTB athletes association are really not happy how the UCI is treating our discipline by changing rules regarding start position one day before the race,” Schurter said in a post online. “The point at this time is not whether or not the rule being applied is fair, unfair or suitable – this is a topic for another day. The concern is the way and timing that UCI has applied and enforced this rule.”
“Hours out from the start of the World Championships is not time to selectively look for rules and we express our deep disappointment and frustration with this situation.”
Schurter added that the rule change could have significant consequences beyond Saturday’s world championships as the race serves as a major event in the Olympic qualification process for next year’s Games in Paris.
“I wouldn’t call it favoritism…”
The UCI seems unbothered by the concerns expressed by Schurter, the most accomplished men’s cross country racer ever, and the rest of the regular mountain bike field.
Explaining that the rule, which allows for top-ranked racers from other disciplines to move up the start grid to the fifth row, already exists in mountain bike World Cup, UCI Sports Director Peter Van den Abeele told Sporza that the UCI is simply extending that rule from World Cup…
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