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The UCI announced today a host of
changes to their regulations. Whilst I welcomed the news of
the introduction of a women's Madison (the only event
remaining at the track World Championships where there is
currently just a men's race) I was astonished at some of the
other changes.
Most people will be talking about the drastic overhaul of the
omnium, and whatever you think about the changes I think it's
a shame they continue to alter the event rather than build up
a history. However the changes which alarmed me the most are
that the Team Pursuit qualifying round will now be run with
two teams on the track at the same time.
To the lesser educated spectator this may seem like no big
deal, and in fact a great time saving method in an already
packed programme at World Cups and World Champs. However as an
experienced Team Pursuit rider this change seems nothing short
of absurd.
Having another team on the track can make a huge difference to
how fast you ride due to the circulating air the other team
creates. Without getting too scientific this can result in 1-2
tenths of a second per lap faster compared to being alone on
the track, and is why finals are always quicker than
qualifying times currently. However what makes this such a
crazy change is even though you are racing against the clock
to qualify the fastest time, the other team on the track you
are drawn with will have a direct impact on how fast you go.
A slower team will mean you gain from their slipstream, which
could work out being a huge unfair advantage. But also what if
you get a team that is significantly slower and you have to
pass them during your ride? A difficult manoeuvre to execute
and the extra distance travelled would cost you time. Or what
if a team starts fast and catches you then slows? You are not
allowed to overtake them once they have overtaken you, so you
will be stuck going at their pace. There could be huge
differences in times for a "good draw" compared to a "bad
draw".
Even worse - what if there is an odd number of teams entered?
A team who has to qualify in a heat on their own will straight
away be at a disadvantage as there will be no circulating air.
How will teams be seeded? The fairest way would be to have the
fastest teams qualify against each other, but how would you
rank this? Nations often send development teams to World Cups,
which could result in a young team with a high UCI nation
ranking up against a high seeded team. The regulations say
they will decide the seedings based on expected time by the
team manager. But the time hoped for can often be very
different to the time produced, as most athletes will know.
The advantage of this change - we could see World Records
broken as it is for the qualifying ride that riders are most
fresh, combined with the circulating air from another team.
But as I outlined earlier, this could very much be down to
luck of the draw and how you interact with the other team on
the track.
Away from Team Pursuit I was surprised there is no change to a
3 woman Team Sprint and women still race for 500m rather than
a kilo in the TT event on the track. Also why no U23 women's
RR and TT at the road Worlds Champs when we currently can have
U23 women's events in Cyclo-Cross and Mountain Biking Worlds?
You won't see me at the upcoming European Championships or
Glasgow World Cup next month as I have my belated honeymoon
coming up (yay!) but I will be watching and eagerly waiting to
see how all the changes are received by riders competing.
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