As the elite race girls got ready to set off from Helensburgh, about 30 kilometres from Wollongong, UCI President Lappartient held the ritual press conference of every World Cup. He could have done it just two hours later and everyone would have been in the press room, but in this edition of the World Cup it seems that time is only an issue for those who work.
Sitting at the champions' table, Lappartient was asked a series of questions, often unrelated to each other., to which he responded freely, omitting to dwell on those that might have caused embarrassment. That's how politics is done.
What do you think of Quintana's appeal against his suspension for Tramadol use?
We remain convinced of our position, but it is right that he appealed. We found Tramadol in two different stages And since the product degrades very quickly, we assume he used it multiple times. The athlete isn't expected to be disqualified, at least for now. But he will be removed from the race rankings in which the positive test occurs. Certainly. it is not a substance that the body produces on its own. Let's hope that the CAS recognize our position.
Today, two races were held in one: the under-23 race and the elite race. When will they be split?
It already seems like a decision to me It is important to have created the title for the youngestThe idea of having a separate race is there and will be put into practice in 2025. It wasn't possible before. First because not all countries have enough young girls and then because Not all cities, for example Zurich 2024, are willing to close the center for a longer race.
What do you think of this World Championship so far from the cradle of cycling?
Europe is probably the heart of our sport, but I want to push for a more international visionSo we'll go to Africa, then Canada, and by 2030, Asia. We're doing very well here. The organization is small, but My phone doesn't ring every day with problems and that means everyone knows what to do.The shops and restaurants are all branded with the race logo, the athletes are happy and by extension we are happy too.
How do you explain that here, at the UCI race, there are no Covid protocols and we live in contact with the athletes, while in Europe there are races that still keep everything closed?
There's a ongoing debate between our doctors and those of the teamsAlthough the attitude towards the virus has changed, so that testing positive doesn't directly lead to a ban, they are the first to want a certain rigor. It's no coincidence that Most of the riders recently sent home tested positive in internal tests.
IERI (Yesterday) The Guardian wrote an article About a Cyclingtips journalist, Iain Treloar, who was denied accreditation for the World Championships. He claims it was because of his criticism of the UCI.
We do not limit freedom of the press here. any header is welcome (Iain Treloar had written a series of pieces on Igor Makarov's alleged influence on UCI policies and on its closeness to the former president of Turkmenistan, accused of human rights violations, ed.). The UCI regulation for press accreditation provides for this. 3 for each media and Cyclingtips had 3 accreditations. I don't see any problems.
I don't like the points system, will you change anything?
There are discussions. I don't know if it exists the perfect system, but we will try to find a better balance. Hinault is right: "To score points you have to win races." We will make adjustments if necessary, but there will be no upheavals. And in any case, these will be changes that will be introduced by next winter. Then another three-year period will begin and you cannot change the rules during the game.
Surprised by the criticism from the teams?
Surprised that they did realizes that he disagrees only in the third of the three years, since the system has been in place since 2020. The goal is to have relegations and promotions every year. The organizers wanted everything to happen automatically, the sports groups didn't. But I can say one thing: you don't get relegated for a bad year. That's why you add the previous three. And if you've been last for three years, then maybe there's a problem. We don't want cycling to be as closed as the NBA. Sport thrives on victories and defeats, and we must accept its rules.
Shouldn't we consider how Covid impacted our business between 2020 and 2021?
If we take the number of races, we see that 90 percent of it has been completed. So Covid has certainly been a nuisance, but did not distort the possibility of scoring points. If we had moved the entry into force of the rule by one year, what could we have said for example to Alpecin-Deceuninck who has earned a place on the WorldTour in recent years? He could have appealed and would have won.
Do you find it normal for a team to prefer putting three riders in the top 10 rather than trying to win?
I repeat Hinault's words, they should try to win. No stitches are made in the last months of three years, even if the distances are really minimal.
Don't you think there's an imbalance between the races?
It might seem so. But I think it's fair that those who don't participate in the Tour de France and win a class 1 race should get a significant score. Because maybe he'll run the next one after a week, while those on the Tour can score points for three consecutive weeks.
When press secretary Christophe Marchadier declared questions closed, Lappartient thanked them, stood up and answered questions from some television stations., including RAI with Stefano Rizzato. Then he slipped into the stadium underpass that houses the Press Center, returning to relationships and meetings which a world championship is undoubtedly full of.
