June 12/20 11:24 am - UCI 2020 Update

Posted by Editoress on 06/12/20
 

The Union Cycliste Internationale's (UCI) Management Committee met on June 10-11 by videoconference to make a series of decisions, including updating the International Calendar due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and the strengthening of the fight against doping.

WorldTour Calendar Update
The UCI Management Committee endorsed decisions taken on June 9th by the Professional Cycling Council - a body comprising representatives of riders (CPA), teams (AIGCP) and organizers (AIOCC) - concerning upcoming races on the 2020 UCI WorldTour calendar. Il Lombardia (Italy) will finally take place on August 15th. The Gree-Tour of Guangxi (China), previously scheduled for October 15-20, will now take place on November 5-10. The EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg (Germany), which had not yet been allocated a date, will take place October 3rd, while another German race, Eschborn-Frankfurt has been cancelled for this year. Two other competitions, the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (Great Britain) and A Travers la Flandre (Belgium) have also been cancelled. The updated 2020 UCI WorldTour Calendar can be found Here.

Women's WorldTour Calendar Update
The 2020 UCI Women's WorldTour calendar has also been updated following the change of date for the Tour of Guangxi (China), moved from 20 October to 10 November, and the cancellation of the Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden TTT and the Postnord UCI WWT Vårgårda West Sweden RR (Sweden), as well as the Ladies Tour of Norway. The updated 2020 UCI Women's WorldTour Calendar can be found Here.

Junior Track Worlds Update
With regards to track cycling, the 2020 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships which were to take place in Cairo (Egypt) on August 16-21, have been pushed back one year. They will be organized at the same venue in 2021 (in April, at a date to be confirmed) instead of the UCI Junior Track Worlds in Tel Aviv (Israel), which the organizers have accepted to postpone to 2022. The UCI Management Committee commends this gesture from Israel's National Federation in favour of its Egyptian counterpart and neighbour, which demonstrates a spirit of solidarity and unity in this period of pandemic that is difficult for all involved in cycling. As a consequence of these changes, the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships will not be organized this year and will not take place in Aigle (Switzerland) in 2022 as originally announced.

Mountain Bike Update
Concerning Off-Road disciplines, the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships which were due to take place in Manizales (Colombia) have now been awarded to Elba (Italy). The date of the event will be announced at a later stage.

2019 World Champions To Retain Jerseys
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several UCI World Championships will not be disputed in 2020. Taking this unprecedented situation into account, the UCI Management Committee decided, as an exception, that UCI World Champions who are unable to defend their title this year will be able to wear their rainbow jersey until the next edition of the relevant Worlds.

Health Protocols
With a view to the recommencement of the 2020 cycling season, the UCI Medical Director Professor Xavier Bigard outlined the health protocols for the resumption of racing. These protocols are being finalized by a working group comprising representatives of different members of the cycling family. They include measures to be implemented in three situations, corresponding to different levels of severity of the pandemic; the measures are to be implemented by the event organizers and teams, and cover the period before the events, the actual races and the period following the events. The publication of these protocols will be communicated next week.

Anti-doping Programme
Regarding anti-doping, the UCI Management Committee confirmed its decision in principle taken at its previous meeting, on 31 January 2020, to transfer the operational activities of its anti-doping programme to the International Testing Agency (ITA) from 1 January 2021. After consultation with cycling's different families in the phase of formalizing the terms of the transfer, the Management Committee approved the contract between the UCI and the ITA. This means that from 1 January 2021, the ITA will take over the mandate currently entrusted to the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF).

More specifically, a unit dedicated to cycling within the ITA, mainly composed of former CADF employees, will take care of the implementation of the UCI's anti-doping programme, with the support and expertise of all departments of the ITA. The UCI is confident that by collaborating with the ITA, cycling will remain at the forefront of the protection of clean athletes and will even reinforce the efficiency of its actions in this domain. It is also important to note that the financial contributions from cycling's stakeholders will continue to be exclusively used for the sport's anti-doping programme and that the use of funds will be the subject of regular reports by the current Funding Committee - composed of representatives of the UCI, the AIGCP, the CPA and the AIOCC -, which will continue in this role.
The UCI, ITA and CADF, which have been working together since February, will continue to collaborate to ensure a smooth transition of activities to the ITA. The UCI again thanks the CADF for the work carried out since 2008.

The CADF will communicate at a later stage about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on anti-doping testing activities in the last months and the plan to resume testing with the recommencement of the 2020 sporting programme.