The Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) met from 19 to 21 September in Wollongong (Australia) for the third ordinary session of the year. For the 2023 season, the UCI Management Committee approved the following calendars:
- 2023 UCI Road International Calendar
This calendar includes all categories of events, but it should be remembered that the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour calendars had already been approved last June by the Professional Cycling Council and the UCI Management Committee respectively.
- 2022-2023 UCI Track International Calendar (August-December 2023)
In accordance with the decision taken by the UCI Management Committee last June to align the track cycling season with the calendar year, the 2022-2023 season, which should have ended in August at the end of the track events of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships being held in Glasgow and across Scotland (Great Britain), has been extended until 31 December 2023.
- 2023 Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup Calendar
- Round 1: to be confirmed
- Round 2: 14-17.03 in Cairo (Egypt)
- Round 3: 20-23.04 in Milton (Canada)
- 2023 UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar
- 2023 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup Calendar
- 2023 UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup Calendar
- 2023 UCI BMX Racing International Calendar
- 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle International Calendar
- 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup Calendar
- 2023 UCI Trials International Calendar (including 2023 UCI Trials World Youth Games)
- 2023 UCI Trials World Cup Calendar
- 2023 UCI Para-cycling International Calendar
- 2023 UCI Indoor Cycling International Calendar
- 2023 UCI Gran Fondo World Series Calendar
- 2023 UCI Gravel World Series Calendar.
These different calendars will be available on the dedicated section of the UCI website from 30 September.
Meanwhile, the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup calendar has been finalised. The ninth round of the series, to be held on 11 December, will take place in Dublin, Ireland. This will be the first round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup to be held in Ireland. The events will take place on the Sport Ireland Campus, in the north of Dublin, where the headquarters of several Irish sporting Federations, including Cycling Ireland, are based.
Moreover, the rounds that should have taken place in Rucphen (Netherlands) on 30 October 2022 and in Dendermonde (Belgium) on 26 December 2022 will finally take place on the same dates, but in Maasmechelen (Belgium) and Gavere (Belgium) respectively.
The full calendar of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup is now as follows:
- 09.10.2022: Waterloo (USA – WI)
- 16.10.2022: Fayetteville – Arkansas (USA)
- 23.10.2022: Tábor (CZE)
- 30.10.2022: Maasmechelen (BEL)
- 13.11.2022: Beekse Bergen – Province of North Brabant (NED)
- 20.11.2022: Overijse (BEL)
- 27.11.2022: Hulst (NED)
- 04.12.2022: Antwerp (BEL)
- 11.12.2022: Dublin (IRL)
- 17.12.2022: Val di Sole – Trentino (ITA)
- 26.12.2022: Gavere (BEL)
- 08.01.2023: Zonhoven (BEL)
- 22.01.2023: Benidorm – Costa Blanca (ESP)
- 29.01.2023: Besançon (FRA)
The Management Committee approved several innovations concerning mountain bike.
In view of the success of cross-country short track (XCC) at the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in recent years, the UCI has decided to add separate events for the Men Under 23 and Women Under 23 categories. These events will be added to the programme of each UCI World Cup round hosting XCC competitions from 2023. Whereas until now only two XCC races have been held (Men and Women), four will now be organised. An overall UCI World Cup ranking for XCC will be calculated for each of the two new categories.
From 2023, mountain bike cross-country marathon (XCM) will join the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup programme, whose new format was unveiled on 12 August by the UCI and its partner Warner Bros. Discovery. As a result, the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Series will cease to exist under this name, and its events will be integrated into the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
Although four-cross events will still be included in the UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar, the format will no longer have a UCI World Championships. However, enduro and E-enduro will be included in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships from 2024.
Concerning the reform of men’s and women’s professional road cycling currently underway, a calendar of discussions between stakeholders was presented to, and received the support of, the Management Committee. These discussions should result in a presentation at the next UCI Women’s WorldTour and UCI WorldTour seminar, which will take place in Monaco at the end of November.
In order to facilitate the participation of athletes in high-level international competitions, the UCI approved modifications to the UCI Regulations aimed at allowing refugee athletes to take part in major events – in particular UCI World Cups and UCI World Championships – with the status of “refugee athlete” and no longer rely on registration by the National Federation of their country of origin. Their participation with the status of “refugee athlete” also aligns with their potential participation as a member of the Olympic refugee team at the Olympic Games.
At its meeting in June 2022, the UCI Management Committee approved the principle of broadening the mandate of the UCI Anti-Doping Commission to include the protection of cycling (especially the prevention of harassment and other abuses) and the fight against competition manipulation. In this perspective, guided by the objectives of the “Cycling Integrity” programme launched by the UCI on 6 May, the UCI Anti-Doping Commission becomes the UCI Integrity Commission. The Management Committee approved the mandate of this commission, which will still have Ms Anne Gripper (AUS) as its President.
The commission’s mandate will include making proposals to improve the UCI’s integrity programme and making recommendations to the UCI Management Committee and the International Testing Agency (ITA) on anti-doping policy.
As part of its actions for sustainable development, the UCI has adopted a UCI Climate Action Charter. By signing this charter, organisations involved in professional cycling (teams, organisers and broadcasters in particular) undertake to respect a series of eight principles in order to drastically and rapidly (by 2030) reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by our sport. The UCI recognises that climate change is threatening the essential life elements as well as the conditions for cycling. It considers that rapid action by cycling stakeholders is required, as cycling is recognised as having a central role to play in this area. The UCI Climate Action Charter is published on the UCI website.
Finally, the UCI Management Committee decided to award the UCI Bike Region label to the province of North Brabant (Netherlands) and the canton of Vaud (Switzerland). The label rewards cities and regions that, in addition to hosting major events on the UCI International Calendar, are committed to the development and promotion of cycling in their communities, and invest in related infrastructure and programmes. These two regions join the network of 20 cities and regions that have already been awarded the UCI Bike City/Region label.
North Brabant has hosted numerous rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, in Hoogerheide, but also in Rucphen (during the 2021-2022 season). Hoogerheide will host the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2023.
The province has also defined a long-term strategy for the development of cycling for all (until 2027). Its objective is to increase the modal share of cycling by 20%. Plans to increase the cycling network include connecting the areas around city centres within a 5-15 km radius, as well as developing cycling highways to connect cities. The focus is on road safety through a network analysis carried out in collaboration with the University of Breda.
The canton of Vaud has also hosted several UCI events: a round of the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Series in Villars-sur-Ollon, as well as the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Aigle, at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC), twice, in 2016 and 2018. The canton has also expressed an interest in organising a number of UCI World Championships between now and 2030. It should be remembered that the 2020 UCI Road World Championships were to have been held partly in the canton of Vaud, but had to be cancelled by the organisers and political authorities concerned a few weeks before the event was to take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic and measures taken by the Swiss Federal authorities.
In terms of cycling for all, the canton of Vaud, where the UCI headquarters and the UCI WCC are located, has developed a long-term strategy for cycling entitled “Horizon 2035”, which aims to achieve a 10% modal share for cycling. The latter has been well integrated as a tool to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and promote health, social cohesion and sustainable territorial and economic development. The current budget of the canton of Vaud for cycling should be significantly increased.
At the end of the three-day meeting, UCI President David Lappartient said: “The decisions taken concerning mountain bike, such as the inclusion of cross-country marathon racing in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup programme from 2023, bear witness to the dynamism of a rapidly growing discipline. The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will take on a new dimension from next year.
“I am also delighted by the progress made to strengthen cycling’s universality, through the creation of the status of refugee athlete; its integrity, with the expansion of the role of the current UCI Anti-Doping Commission; and its contribution to sustainable development, with the adoption of a UCI Climate Action Charter.”
The next Management Committee meeting will be held in Hoogerheide (Netherlands) on 2 and 3 February 2023, before the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships taking place in the same city on 4 and 5 February.