The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has expressed its ‘very great concern over the situation in Ukraine and firmly condemns the aggression of the Russian and Belarusian governments and their non-respect of the Olympic Truce.’
As part of a number of initiatives, the UCI has decided to offer its support to the Ukrainian cycling community and has committed to welcoming Ukrainian athletes to the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC), its education and training centre in Aigle, Switzerland.
Moreover, the UCI welcomes the strong decisions taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 28 February and has decided to apply them to cycling.
The UCI, which remains a politically neutral organisation, laments that the decisions of their respective governments can impact Russian and Belarusian athletes, but adds… ‘it is necessary to be firm in the defence of the Olympic values.’
In light of the situation in Ukraine, the UCI Management Committee has unanimously taken the following decisions:
1. Russian and Belarusian national teams and / or national selections are not authorised to take part in any events on the UCI International Calendar, with immediate effect.
2. UCI Team status is withdrawn from all teams under Russian or Belarusian nationality and the UCI shall not consider any further applications for UCI status from teams from these two countries. The withdrawal of UCI Team status concerns the following teams:
– UCI ProTeam Gazprom – RusVelo (RUS)
– UCI Continental Team Vozrozhdenie (RUS)
– UCI Track Team Marathon – Tula Cycling Team (RUS)
– UCI Continental Team CCN Factory Racing (BLR)
– UCI Continental Team Minsk Cycling Club (BLR)
– UCI Women’s Continental Team Minsk Cycling Club (BLR).
3. The UCI withdraws all Russian and Belarusian events from the 2022 UCI International Calendar and shall not consider any further registration requests. The following events are concerned by the withdrawal from the UCI International Calendar:
– Grand Prix Moscow 1: class 2 track event (20-21 May 2022)
– Granfondo Moscow: UCI Granfondo World Series event (21-22 May 2022)
– Grand Prix Moscow 2: category 2 track event (22 May 2022)
– Grand Prix Saint-Petersburg: category 2 track event (26-29 May 2022)
– Five Rings of Moscow: class 2.2 road event (8-12 June 2022).
4. The Russian and Belarusian National Championships are also withdrawn from the UCI International Calendar.
5. The appearance of all emblems, names, acronyms, flags and anthems linked to Russia and Belarus are prohibited at all events on the UCI International Calendar. The Russian and Belarusian National Champions’ jerseys are therefore banned.
6. Any bids from Russian and Belarusian candidates for the organisation of UCI events shall not be considered.
7. The UCI forbids organisers of events on the UCI International Calendar from inviting Russian and Belarusian club, regional or mixed teams.
8. The UCI will not appoint Russian or Belarusian International Commissaires to UCI International Calendar events until further notice.
The UCI wishes to clarify that Russian and Belarusian licence-holders are authorised to take part in events on the UCI International Calendar with their respective teams provided they are registered with a UCI Team that is neither Russian nor Belarusian. Russian and Belarusian riders can also participate in UCI International Calendar events if individual registration is authorised.
Any participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes must be in a neutral capacity, and organisers are requested to withdraw any reference to Russia or Belarus, including the name, emblems, acronyms and flags, and replace them with a neutral reference or denomination on all event-related documents and in line with instructions to be provided by the UCI.
UCI adds that the decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes at all international events is based on obtaining a balance of all interests. In particular, it is a question of taking into account the contractual rights of the riders and teams concerned, and not to unjustly penalise teams that are not Russian or Belarusian.
The UCI asks organisers, spectators and competitors to respect Russian and Belarusian riders at races in which they would be authorised to participate.
As part of its decisions, the UCI Management Committee has also taken a stance on sponsoring by Russian or Belarusian brands and companies. As it considers that this would damage the image of the UCI and cycling in general, such sponsoring will not be authorised. Teams and event organisers have therefore been requested not to grant any visibility to Russian or Belarusian sponsors at events on the UCI International Calendar.
