A secret, disguised, purposely blurred photo. The other day in the hotel that hosts the Jumbo Visma among the countryside of Denia, a type of unspecified origin, perhaps in mechanics, He scolded us very strongly because we were about to take some photos of Roglic who was about to leave for training.It was clear that the reason was the new technical equipment of shoes and sets, which cannot be shown until January 1st and it was no use explaining to him that we would only use the images in 2023. In the parking lot of the same hotel, guys from the Cofidis who were getting ready to go out, They let us take pictures and conduct interviews, politely asking for them to be published in the new year.
Same thing at Trek-Segafredo and at UAE Team Emirates of Tadej pogacarHere a manager noticed that a new rider was getting interviewed on video, using the new materials He immediately asked the press officer to point this out to him, but the rider continued, perhaps having a release. The problem isn't the teams, but the rules.
Overlapping calendars
Shortly before, speaking with an Italian athlete, the discussion ended on the 2023 calendar of those who do road and trackHis observation was not far-fetched.
«It pushes a lot – he said – towards multidisciplinary and then find out that the Track World Cups are held during the Northern Classics, while having the World Cup all together in Glasgow will end up with penalize multi-purpose athletesThose who will have to choose or will still try the dual commitment of road, track or mountain bike and will risk not being able to recover well».
Champions and track
Third point of observation: the Track Champions League, a carousel organized by the UCI in first person, trying to synthesize the spectacle of the Six Days with the technical values of the track world championships. The result of the second edition was almost a flop, with Eurosport broadcasting it being directly involved in the organisation, but little audience, very little media attention and a starting field mutilated by the fact that the strongest were on holiday after the road season and the track world championships.
In proportion and despite the name, there were more champions in the Six Days of Ghent and Rotterdam of those involved in the circus set up by the UCI.
The paradox of contracts
There are some accounts that don't add up and, as usual, the movement as a whole is paying the price. expiring contracts on December 31st is a contradiction From the moment the first training camps begin in December, athletes have the right/duty to test the new materials. They can use, but not publish, thanks to an exemption from the same contracts. thus keeping the media away (where necessary) so that they do not produce images of riders who are using… illegal material.
The paradox is that with that material riders train all day long, so it is enough that someone film them along the road and share photos or videos on social media, so that the images become public and the secret of Pulcinella is revealed, as regularly happens. Wouldn't it be more logical and functional for contracts to begin and expire on October 31st?, allowing the athletes to finish the season, starting in November with the new team?
UCI Confusion
Other point: too busy calendarsStuffing them in this way has only one purpose, which is to increase the income of those who derive wealth from events: the UCI. So having an imposing structure to maintain, Swiss friends sprinkle taxes on events and events on the calendar.
The way it was once structured, the activity also made sense on a technical level. Now, however, little thought is given to the needs of the riders and teams. Therefore National teams are forced to field some athletes to chase qualification, knowing already that they will not take them to the World Championships or the Olympics, where the protagonists will return to the scene. The result is that at the last World Cup Viviani was unable to run the points race Because, having not participated in the various qualifiers, he didn't have the necessary points. One can agree or disagree, It's a dirty job and someone has to do it., but it is impossible to expect riders like Milan, Ganna and Consonni to race the Roubaix and then get on a plane to go and race the Milton Cup in Canada six days later.
Exceptions to the rule
The UCI has decided to decide not for the good of cycling, but always in favor of profitThey didn't lift a finger to help the Gazprom-RusVelo guys, but they did facilitate Dylan Teuns' move to Israel-Premier Tech in the middle of the summer, finding a way out of the point count which, according to the official version, prevented the riders from the Russian team from settling in.
The Union that should be the parent company of cycling appears to be rather out of step. There are changes within it and resignations are being announced, in a confusing dimension excellently represented by the institutional websiteVery difficult to consult and designed to make it (almost) impossible to find one's way through its intricacies.
