Race outside of UCI

[FKLance]

Just curious,

Let's say I wanted to create an international road race with awards, and because of certain rules in UCI rulebook, or just for the sake of rebelling against UCI, I do not want UCI or the rules of UCI to interfere with my race. I do not need UCI registered teams or riders, or national teams, only individuals (who are then divided in some unique way into teams).

What drawbacks would it have? I would have to create my own rules, what else? Any possible benefits?

There are commercial cycling events that have nothing to do with UCI or the national agencys.

I remember Paris-Nice in 2008 was run with ASO rules. Of course, the relationship between ASO and UCI has been controversial and all kinds of things happened afterwards..

Threats were made by the UCI for the participating teams and riders that are now forgotten.

Would I be playing with fire with my own race?

 

[Francois the Postman]

Depends. Do you own the TdF, Paris-Nice, part of the Vuelta, Criterium du Dauphine, Paris–Roubaix, LBL, Fleche, Paris–Tours...?

 

[TERMINATOR]

Just curious,

Let's say I wanted to create an international road race with awards, and because of certain rules in UCI rulebook, or just for the sake of rebelling against UCI, I do not want UCI or the rules of UCI to interfere with my race. I do not need UCI registered teams or riders, or national teams, only individuals (who are then divided in some unique way into teams).

What drawbacks would it have? I would have to create my own rules, what else? Any possible benefits?

There are commercial cycling events that have nothing to do with UCI or the national agencys.

I remember Paris-Nice in 2008 was run with ASO rules. Of course, the relationship between ASO and UCI has been controversial and all kinds of things happened afterwards..

Threats were made by the UCI for the participating teams and riders that are now forgotten.

Would I be playing with fire with my own race?

You can do whatever you want - the UCI doesn't own the sport of bike racing. However, they can bar pro teams and UC-license holders from participating if they really want to.

In the 2008 Paris Nice and 2008 Tour de France (neither were UCI sanctioned) Patty Cake McQuaid threatened to suspend all the riders who participated, but since Patty Cake was just making idle threats, nothing happened. McQuaid then retaliated against the French national federation for reasons that he failed to articulate.

McQuaid thinks that if a promoter doesn't want to sanction their big race through the UCI, the national federations should reject sanctioning the race as well even though there is no such rule in the UCI rulebook that says this.

What a loser. But then again what do you expect from a guy who never went to college.

 

[craig1985]

Or got to his position by having friends in very high places.

 

[Francois the Postman]

In the 2008 Paris Nice and 2008 Tour de France (neither were UCI sanctioned) Patty Cake McQuaid threatened to suspend all the riders who participated, but since Patty Cake was just making idle threats, nothing happened. McQuaid then retaliated against the French national federation for reasons that he failed to articulate.

I remember that slightly different.

It was the year Pat wanted to stamp his authority on all of cycling, but seriously overplayed his cards. After some exchanges between the UCI and ASO, 17 teams announced in July that if they were prevented from racing thoe ASO events, they would not seek ProTour licenses for 2008. Bye bye UCI. So he swallowed.

Technically this should have given the ASO et al a huge momentum, taking some reigns away from the UCI. And for a brief moment I had high hopes that we would actually see a healthier cycling umbrella and dopers would be facing a much rougher ride.

Unfortunately, Patrice Clerc, director of the ASO, also overplayed his cards, as the A in ASO sacked him, and put its own Amaury at the helm. They wanted a different direction for ASO. Which also put an end to the hard anti-doping line that the ASO was starting to take.

What we have seen since, I think, is that ASO saw a chance to cement its position as "not ignorable", as long as the global scene is still in its infancy.

It seized the moment when it got the better of the UCI, for now, and decided to come to a working arrangement with the UCI. To me it seems obvious they have decided to share the "future of cycling", and marginalize all other organisers. Hence why the Giro folk suddenly are no longer part of the big cycling table, and ASO is.

Interesting times, as they say. We lost a lot in 2008, I think.

 

[FKLance]

You can do whatever you want - the UCI doesn't own the sport of bike racing. However, they can bar pro teams and UC-license holders from participating if they really want to.
.

When do you think they start to care - and ban license-holders? The moment it threatens the UCI Calendar races in terms of publicity? Has this happened before?