For the eagle-eared among you, there was something different about the podiums of the junior men’s and under-23 men’s podiums at the Wollongong World Championships on Friday.
No, not the rare strains of the Kazakh anthem being played for Yevgeniy Fedorov, the winner of the U23 race, but the piece of music played as the top three riders walked onto the stage before the podium ceremony.
That’s right, I know it’s what you are all thinking, it’s a new anthem for cycling’s governing body, the UCI! And at long last too, because the old one had been going since 1996, and was definitely in need of a refresh.
The coming aural revolution was hidden in the press release about the latest UCI Congress, where the top lines were France being awarded the 2027 ‘Super Worlds’, Bhutan joining the UCI as the 202nd member, and five people, including Anna Meares, being awarded the UCI’s Merit award. Standard.
12 paragraphs down, way below where a normal person would read, if they had even navigated the UCI’s incredibly helpful website to this point, was the explosive news about the anthem.
“Congress participants discovered the new UCI Anthem,” the statement read. “It will be broadcast from tomorrow during the podium ceremonies of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, and in the future will be used at UCI World Championships for all disciplines.
“This anthem, which will replace the one that has been used since its composition in 1996, aims to capture the essence of the UCI and of cycling in a unique melody and rhythm. This change is part of the UCI’s desire to modernise its sound brand and ensure it keeps up with the times.”
Does that not sound super exciting? Having reviewed the Vuelta a España’s official songs, and taken a look at Pieter Serry’s Giro d’Italia playlist, it is time to turn Cycling Weekly‘s critical eye towards the UCI’s anthem.
But first, for the ignorant among you, here is the anthem that has been used since 1996, apparently, although no one had ever noticed it.
Here is the old anthem, by way of comparison pic.twitter.com/zuIvJ3aBI5September 23, 2022
I really don’t mind that, truth be told. It does its job, a twelve second trumpet fanfare to instruct the crowd gathered in front of the podium that something important is about to happen. A brass flourish is all that is really needed in this situation, right? I might be a bit biased as someone with grade eight on the euphonium, but this is good.
I suppose it does not feel particularly modern,…