The decision to scrap the individual pursuit from the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships this year has been called “disheartening” and a “sad story” by athletes.
The UCI has made significant schedule changes to the event set to be held in Rio, Brazil this October, including the removal of the individual pursuit and omnium, and introduction of the elimination race and match sprinting.
According to a letter sent by the UCI to national federations, and seen by Cycling Weekly, the changes come after more than two years of discussions. These were prompted by concerns about “long days of competition, unpredictability in the schedule, and a general interest in reducing timed events in favor of more head-to-head or bunch races.”
Official confirmation of the schedule changes was sent to the federations on Monday.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, GB Paralympian Blaine Hunt said the loss of the individual pursuit “impacts an event that’s historically a massive part of para-sport”.
“It’s disheartening to teams and riders,” he said. “There are a lot of disappointed riders, and rightly so, because everyone puts a lot of effort into that race. It’s a race that pushes the sport forwards. The times are continually coming down
“I understand that they’re trying to make a change, trying to make it maybe more engaging to watch, maybe shorten down the event,” Hunt continued. However, “nobody knows if it’s a permanent decision or not," he said.
"Nobody knows how it’s going to impact the Paralympics for LA. How I understand it is the recommendations get put forward to the Paralympics for the events to be included, and I don’t know how that factors in.”
The individual pursuit is one of just three track cycling events at the Paralympics, and has been part of the Games for over two decades. It was among four events that made up the omnium at the Para-cycling Track World Championships, alongside the 200m flying lap, time trial and scratch race. Due to the pursuit’s removal, the omnium is unable to run in its current form.
The UCI has in turn added an elimination race to supplement the schedule for endurance riders at the competition. This event was first trialled at last year’s World Championships, and is “completely different” to the individual pursuit, Hunt stressed.
“It’s not [about] who’s the most physiologically capable or who can ride to a schedule, it’s who is confident enough to pin the other person down and win a sprint at the end,” he said.
Paralympian Martin van de Pol, who won silver in the individual pursuit at the World Championships in 2023, voiced his safety concerns about the elimination race on Instagram.
“Paralympic elimination race, can you imagine that?” the Dutchman wrote. “Where safety for the outside world is a sacred word in cycling, we will add this event to make it more spectacular is the argument. What about the numbers of crashes in this event in regular cycling?”
Van de Pol concluded his post, which was shared widely by Paralympians, by saying it was a “sad story”.
The individual pursuit changes only affect solo riders across the C1-5 categories. The event will continue as part of the schedule for tandem riders at this October's World Championships.
In the letter sent to national federations on Monday, the UCI’s para-cycling manager, Todd Fraser, said he was “confident that [the changes] will contribute to the long-term growth of the sport”.
Cycling Weekly has contacted the UCI about the changes, and will update this article if the governing body responds.
