It might be round number from the decimal system but over the years various political administrations and managerial careers have been reviewed after just 100 days. In this spirit it was 100 days ago that Brian Cookson rode the train from Florence to Aigle to start work as UCI President. What’s happened and what’s next?
Who knows what 2014 will bring? There are some signs but it’s often the unexpected events that delight and intrigue. Here are some extrapolations and wild guesses for the year ahead.
Increasing commercial pressure… the World Cup… Defensive maneuvering abruptly swept away any instinct for the offense… highly paid riders lured by bigger financial carrots… a greater marketability for the sport globally… tarnished the traditionally promoted heritage… the equation of prestigious races like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders with virgin events like the coming Summer International in England.
Changes to the calendar threaten the sport. Riders chase monetary incentives instead of glory. The racing risks becoming boring and defensive and new events are piled on to the calendar for the sake of globalization. A critique of the UCI’s plans for 2020? No, an assessment of the 1989 spring classics season by Australian journalist Rupert Guinness.
Some sprinters are feared for their switching but Alessandro Petacchi tried a different kind of move this year when he announced his retirement only to switch to OPQS. The UCI shut the door on this and a blocked Petacchi had to wait until August to move teams.
But the attempt showed a loophole in the rules and this has now been closed for good. Not every change to the UCI rulebook is worth a mention but Petacchi’s mid-season switch was a strange story with implications for teams and recruitment so here’s a quick look.
The UCI’s plans for pro cycling in 2015 and 2017 as the plans for reform appear in full thanks to a leaked document on Cicloweb.it
We got a glimpse of this earlier this month with the details buried in a technical bulletin but now a copy of the whole presentation has emerged.
The takeaway is that if the reforms are expected to be completed by 2020, radical change will be coming as soon as 2015. Within the next few years races like the Eneco Tour and Tour de Pologne will get downgraded. Germany’s Bayern Rundfahrt gets promoted. Meanwhile Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse all shrink. Other races vanish.
Brian Cookson could be forgiven for the distractions. As the vineyards around Aigle see the leaves turn and the autumn sun illuminates the Alpine peaks, the temptation to head outdoors and explore his new roads around the UCI’s Swiss HQ must be real.
But it seems the new UCI President’s been busy or at least giving the impression of activity. One basic rule of corporate communications is to say what you’re going to do, tell people when you’re doing it and once you’ve done it let everyone know you’ve finished the job. In this spirit this blog post will look at the UCI’s announcement yesterday and see what its doing and where it’s going.
One year ago the UCI gave its response to USADA’s reasoned decision and the ban imposed on Lance Armstrong. The media was convened to a hotel in Switzerland where Pat McQuaid announced the UCI accepted USADA’s verdict and it would ban Armstrong and strip him of almost all his results.
For a moment it prised open the UCI and its decision-making process but in the weeks and months that followed the UCI seemed to regress back towards obstruction and bizarre press releases. What’s happened since?
Remember 2012? Tom Boonen was imperial in the cobbled classics, Bradley Wiggins wore yellow and then went to the Olympic games? It all seems a long time ago but the UCI’s published its 2012 annual report today. Here’s a look at the income and expenditure of cycling’s governing body for the year.
Amidst the adjustments to the BMX calendar and a reminder about new time trial position rules in the UCI’s Sport and Technical bulletin for October was a half a page on the future shape of men’s pro cycling. It’s the first sighting in public of the plans to remodel the calendar and it promises radical change with fewer race days, fewer top teams and fewer races.
This post isn’t about doping. Instead it’s about procedures and probabilities so if you want something more exciting, wait for the preview of this Sunday’s Il Lombardia race due out soon.
Team Sky’s Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was pulled out from the British team going to the worlds at the last moment and there was talk of an injury with some and fatigue from others. But the weekend saw the story that he was being questioned by the UCI about his biological passport data. What has happened to get these questions and what is next?