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The International Cycling Union (UCI) has decided to exclude with immediate effect Tuesday, March 1 from the cycling events the Russian formation Gazprom / RusVelo, the only high-level Russian team in the international peloton. On the other hand, the UCI authorized license holders from both countries to take part in the events on the calendar, ” provided they are registered in a UCI team neither Russian nor Belarusian.
Gazprom/RusVelo was soon to take part in three events on the world calendar, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo in Italy, the Tour of Catalonia in Spain.
Participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes in a neutral capacity
The federation chaired by Frenchman David Lappartient explained that it applied “ strong decisions “taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recommended Monday, February 28 to ban Russians and Belarusians from sports competitions. The Gazprom-Rusvelo team, which evolves in the second world division, is made up of 21 riders, nine of whom are of Russian nationality alongside seven Italians. The formation, which has already participated in the Giro (in 2016 and 2017), recently competed in the UAE Tour with, in the key, a stage victory for the young Czech Mathias Vacek (19 years old).
On the other hand, the UCI authorized license holders from both countries to take part in the events on the calendar, ” provided they are registered in a UCI team neither Russian nor Belarusian. ” Any participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes must be in a neutral capacity “, without reference to the two countries, indicates the UCI which wanted to take into account “ the contractual rights of the riders and teams concerned ” and ” do not unfairly penalize teams ” other countries.
In the WorldTour, the first world division, only two riders are of Russian nationality. Aleksandr Vlasov races for German team Bora and Pavel Sivakov, who grew up in France and took a stand last week against the war in Ukraine, wears the colors of British training Ineos.