New UCI ruling

jairaj

The UCI have a new rule which says that any UCI licensed rider rider cannot take part in a race or event that is not sanctioned by the UCI else they could get a fine and 1 month ban.

This means that racers won't be able to take part in things like Enduro World Series and Crankworx.

a bit more info here:
http://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/USAC-HATES-YOU-EVEN-MORE-All-UCI-Licensed-Riders-Subject-To-Fines-For-Racing-Non-Sanctioned-Events,581

and here:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/UCI-Clarifies-Rule-on-Unsanctioned-Races.html

I'm not sure of the facts 100% but my initial reactions are that this not good for MTB and cause a split with some riders opting to boycott UCI races all together and others taking the stance for fear of a UCI ban. I can see it stumping the growth of the sport.

lawman

It's about time the MTB world left the UCI, they've fucked up road cycling and now they're doing the same to all forms of MTB. The sooner we leave the better. Yes they help put MTB on the map but the infrastructure is now in place that a better series could be run without the UCI being Nazi's all the time. The Enduro World Series should show the way for DH and XC to follow, and I really hope they do.

welshkev

I saw this on facebook yesterday.

i don't know all the rules and regs and i'm not even registered with the UCI. but it does seem kind of stupid and a monopoly springs to mind :?

jairaj

In what way did the UCI ruin road cycling? Is the failure to get rid of doping or something else? I don't really follow this side of the sport so not really knowledgeable on what they do or don't do.

bennett_346

Does this mean no Red Bull Rampage for Gee Atherton?

welshkev

bennett_346 wrote:

Does this mean no Red Bull Rampage for Gee Atherton?

mega avalanche anyone? nope..didn't think so

Thewaylander

Sounds bloody stupid to me. but hey ho.

rockmonkeysc

bennett_346 wrote:

Does this mean no Red Bull Rampage for Gee Atherton?

Worse than that, No Rampage for Brendon Fairclough

cooldad

I was thinking of turning pro but...

bennett_346

Ah so that's what's been holding you back...

rockmonkeysc

Sounds like the UCI is even worse than BC for pointless rules.

njee20

This actually has fairly significant ramifications for UK based riders.

In most countries there are two licence levels:
- domestic licence issued by your national body
- international licence issued by the UCI

In the UK they're all UCI licences, so theoretically this affects any rider with a racing licence. That means plenty of riders (myself included) can no longer technically race any Gorrick events, Mountain Mayhem, 24/12, virtually all gravity enduros, the Megavalanche etc without risk of fine and suspension.

It's bollocks.

lawman

Complete farce and I dare say there will be many riders kicking off about this, let alone events like rampage and crankworx that will be without a whole host of WC Dh guys, or even if some of the XC guys fancied a go at the mega or a World enduro event...

The sooner the UCI fucks off the better!

supersonic

As daft as their website.

njee20

lawman wrote:

Complete farce and I dare say there will be many riders kicking off about this, let alone events like rampage and crankworx that will be without a whole host of WC Dh guys, or even if some of the XC guys fancied a go at the mega or a World enduro event...

The sooner the UCI f***s off the better!

I think the events it will impact more if they're not careful is the local grass roots type stuff, if they really do enforce this to the letter (not that I think they will, as it's wholly impractical!). Is there a BC affiliated gravity Enduro series? If not you basically just lost your elite category in its entirety!

rockmonkeysc

supersonic wrote:

As daft as their website.

The BC website is just useless. So difficult to find anything and the race calendar filter never works properly.

heez29

njee20 wrote:

lawman wrote:

Complete farce and I dare say there will be many riders kicking off about this, let alone events like rampage and crankworx that will be without a whole host of WC Dh guys, or even if some of the XC guys fancied a go at the mega or a World enduro event...

The sooner the UCI f***s off the better!

I think the events it will impact more if they're not careful is the local grass roots type stuff, if they really do enforce this to the letter (not that I think they will, as it's wholly impractical!). Is there a BC affiliated gravity Enduro series? If not you basically just lost your elite category in its entirety!

Nail on the head. Some of the draw for youngsters for some of the grassroots stuff is some World Class riders to race against. Without this it's just you and your mates, doing what you normally do but competitively. This ruling seems so impractical, what does the UCI gain from this ruling is what confuses me.

milko9000

Maybe everyone can enter incognito, with a cunning mask.

pilch

I emailed them, there's a meeting about it next week I think, the general consensus is that its a rule that's been around for ages that no-one has bothered with, as suggested it would be pretty impossible to keep track of/enforce with the resources available within BC especially when you take in to account all of the cycling disciplines...

Not sure what will happen with the overseas stuff such as the mega etc. though

njee20

Nail on the head. Some of the draw for youngsters for some of the grassroots stuff is some World Class riders to race against.

But it isn't just that, it's massive chunks of their entry base. I reckon probably 30-50% of any Gorrick event are licenced riders. You're potentially going to lose all of them in one go!

Be interesting to see what comes out of this, but I imagine the dust will settle and we'll go back to how things have been for years!

rockmonkeysc

Not sure if I have understood this right. I have a BC race licence and I'm collecting points, racing in regional A&B events and hopefully a national BDS race. Does this mean that I can't do any non BC events?
Or is it only a problem if I was riding in national Elite category and collecting UCI points?

njee20

Does this mean that I can't do any non BC events?

This, if they enforce it you face a fine up to £70 and a one month ban. That's the problem!

Non-competitive too, so randonees, road sportives and that sort of thing are out if they're not sanctioned.

rockmonkeysc

That sucks. I have already entered the Heaven of the South & Exmoor Explorer non competitive XC rides. So after spending £60 on entries I can't do them. Even though they are a different sport, not competition and one of them is a charitable event.

njee20

Of course you can still do them (at least unless they say they will enforce this to the letter of the law next week), because of the number of people involved I really can't see they'll implement it!

They are making the process for affiliation easier so events can 'comply' but I know some organisers actively avoid BC affiliation, and a heavy handed draconian rule like this is unlikely to sway them!

As I said before, it's more of an issue in the UK because we don't differentiate between domestic and UCI licences, most countries do, so it will only affect a handful of pros chasing UCI points.

Tom Barton

If everyone just ignored the idiots, they might (just might!) suss out something is wrong when they've banned every rider in the uk..

Whoever was mentioning MTBing leaving the UCI I agree with. They are useless. Lets not give them any money..

rockmonkeysc

Tom Barton wrote:

If everyone just ignored the idiots, they might (just might!) suss out something is wrong when they've banned every rider in the uk..

Whoever was mentioning MTBing leaving the UCI I agree with. They are useless. Lets not give them any money..

But when your trying to build points and keep sponsors happy you can't afford to get banned. I wouldn't risk it.

njee20

Sod the ban, I'm not keen on a £70 fine!

bennett_346

I'm not sure how they would catch anyone? Just don't show them your BC license or and ID if they ask to see it...

njee20

Team name in results sheets? Post codes etc. There's ways, but yes you're right, you could avoid it, and I think that'll be the reason they don't pursue it, it'll be a logistical nightmare!

There's 3 people called Steve James who race, two in Elite, one who's an unlicensed master or sommat, it's not going to be practical to chase everyone down.

bennett_346

There could be any amount of people using an identical team name in a casual non sanctioned race, they can't assume it's who they're thinking of (even if they knew it was it's surely not enough evidence to fine someone on!).

ddraver

Someone suggested that all racers should enter races as Pat McQuaid to get around the issue.

Up for it njee?