It was a topic of debate of thelatest editorial from bici.PRO: the Federal Council of the FCI which took place has the regional restriction in the junior category has been abolished. In other words, an athlete can move freely from one regional committee to another. The notorious "no objection" is no longer required.
But what does all this mean in a nutshell? What will it actually entail? We already tried to answer this question and make some projections in the editorial, but it's not easy to predict what will happen.
Giuliani's word
We asked him Francis Giuliani, He's the technical selector for the Piedmont committee. He's one of those who work in the field, who works closely with the athletes, and he can provide us with some insights.
«It's difficult to make a statement – Giuliani tries to explain – The first problem that comes to mind is that it's difficult to keep the strongest athletes in the Region. While in the end it's not a big problem for the other kids because permission was granted to ensure they didn't leave one kid stranded. No one's stopping a young person from running.
More than anything, I think regions like Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont will suffer, which are good regions in terms of the number of teams and activities, but are behind Veneto and Lombardy. And the clubs will suffer. In fact, for me, in terms of summons, it doesn't change much, because that depends on your residence."
Hard times?
Giuliani speaks of a necessary revolution, but also of risks, for the teams themselves: "Because," he says, "in the end, those with the most visibility and financial power will be the most attractive. They will take the strongest riders."
«On the one hand, this regulation is better because the kids have more freedom, on the other hand, it's worse because if you overdo it with hiring strong riders, you risk them all ending up on the same teams. And so Instead of there being two or three good guys on each team, there will be ten on two teams. And this would inevitably also have an impact on racing."
"And that way you don't get results. And if you don't get results, the sponsor leaves... It's the same with small businesses. Then there's the sponsor who's a lover and keeps going anyway, but most of the time the sponsor leaves."
Giuliani, clearly, made an analysis from his own perspective. Ultimately, he's part of an important committee, not in pole position, but right behind it. But what about the southern regions?
«It will be a massacre. The South was saved by multiple marriages, now they no longer have any reason to exist. At that point, it will be entirely up to them to adapt and modernize, but it won't be easy."
«I'm worried about Piedmont, let alone over thereOur teams that are further west will suffer more, while our teams that are further east will be able to benefit from the proximity to Lombardy, even just to go for a run."
Fantasy cycling idea
From regional technician to president of the Piedmont regional committee, Massimo Rosso. For him too, the risk is that of a strong concentration of the entire junior movement in two or three Regions.
«For our clubs – explains Rosso – the difference is that they probably won't have the strong rider around whom the team was "built", so to speak. A more structured, more coveted team will arrive and take him away… effectively distorting the starting team which may no longer be willing to continue."
I realize this is a sensitive issue and it's not easy. And it will especially impact the smaller cycling regions. However, the issue could have been addressed differently, even by listening to us. Instead, we on the regional committees found ourselves having to make this rule ourselves.
The solution? It's a bit like in fantasy cycling, where you have to think about credits; here you can do it with the players' points. It is established that a team cannot have, I say a random number, more than 100 points and you decide how to build the team. And so I would have one super good, a couple good, a couple with very few points and others with no points at all."
