In The Crosshairs

Masters CX Worlds hits U.S. soil in 2012

So you say you’re a masters racer who wants to race cyclocross worlds but isn’t sure where to begin? Fear not, USA Cycling has released eligibility guidelines for racers interested in participating in the 2012 Masters World Cyclocross Championship. Text of the press release outlining the guidelines follows:

Eligibility guidelines for 2012 Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships set

June 3, 2011 (Louisville, Ky.) – The eligibility guidelines for participation in the 2012 UCI Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships, scheduled for Jan. 12-15 in Louisville, Ky., have been announced.

Eligibility Guidelines as follows:

• Rider must be of cyclo-cross racing age of 30 or older.
• Riders who appear in the UCI cyclo-cross rankings or have earned UCI points in the 2011-2012 season are ineligible for the Masters World Championships.
• Riders who participated in the UCI Elite Cyclo-cross World Championships, Continental Cyclo-cross Championships or any UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup during the 2011-2012 season are ineligible to compete at Masters Worlds.
• Any rider who has been a member, during the 2011-2012 season, of a team registered with the UCI in any discipline is ineligible for the Masters World Championships.
• There will be no ability category restrictions in order for riders to compete.

Licensing

All racers will be required to hold a 2012 International Racing license. For U.S.-based Masters age racers unaccustomed to this requirement, USA Cycling recommends beginning the application process as soon as the 2012 licenses will be available for purchase on December 1, 2011. The international license allows riders to compete in domestic road, mountain bike, cyclo-cross and track events; therefore riders will not need to purchase a separate domestic license for the 2012 season.

International Licensing Process

The application process requires several steps including a signature on the international license athlete release form and proof of nationality. Riders will need to make sure the signed waivers and proof of citizenship are submitted to and processed by USA Cycling well in advance of the event. If these are not received and processed, the rider will be ‘pended’ in the system and will not be allowed to compete.

What are the additional steps?

1.             Once the international license has been purchased online at www.usacycling.org, riders will be prompted to download, sign and submit the athlete signature page. This may be submitted to USA Cycling via fax, email (scan) or postal mail.

2.             Provide a copy of your birth certificate or valid passport for proof of citizenship. If a rider is just renewing their international license, they do not need to provide a proof of citizenship if it’s already on-file with USA Cycling.

Qualifying and Field Limits

The UCI Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships have a UCI-mandated field limit of 80 riders.

For fields with greater than 80 registrants the UCI Cyclo-cross Commission has determined that short heats will be installed, with a limit of 60-70 riders per heat and a maximum of eight heats, and a ‘repechage’. Start order for the World Championship final will be according to the results of the heats.

Start Order / Call-Ups / Finals Qualification

1)   Call ups for all qualifying races will be random draw.

2)  For fields greater than 75 riders a three-lap heat race will be contested. The number of heats will be determined by the total number of riders registered. In the heats, riders will be called up by random order in the same method as mentioned above.

The finals will be raced with 80 riders with five coming from the Repechage. The Repechage is open to all racers who did not qualify for the Finals coming out of their qualifying heat.

3) For the World Championship Final, riders will be called up by their order of finish in their heats (all first riders of the different heats, all second riders of the different heats and so forth).

4) A second final – or Consolation Final – will be raced to determine finishing places 81-onward.

The random draw will be conducted on-site at registration. The rider who draws number 1 will be called up first and so on. Riders will draw their own numbers.

“The UCI and USA Cycling have been working diligently to establish fair and clear guidelines for the 2012 and 2013 Masters Worlds,” said race director Bruce Fina. “This is an entirely new animal. With ever-growing Masters fields in the U.S., all involved realize that these events will pose unique challenges that the races have not faced in Europe in terms of field sizes and eligibility. The UCI is rightfully concerned with protecting the integrity of the world championship jersey and title and its technical execution. All parties agree these qualification and eligibility guidelines are the best way to be fair to racers from the U.S. and across the world while still recognizing that this is a world championship event and affording it a degree of respect and recognition for the competition that sets it apart from most mass participatory events.”

In case you missed it, the U.S. cyclocross scene suffered a heavy blow last week after the UCI decided to strictly, yet selectively, enforce its rules regarding the creation and recognition of a cyclocross series. The effect of the international governing body’s decision was the banning of the Verge and NACT series from the 2011-2012 UCI calendar.

Until now, USA Cycling has not released any statement pertaining to these events from last week. This left many of us in the dark without much substantive information. Many of us learned of the events as they happened by following the contemporaneous tweets by Cycle-Smart and Verge Series boss, Adam Myerson. In addition to a visceral blow-by-blow of developments on the ground, Myerson’s Twitter feed is also a fascinating 24-hour microcosm of the stages of grief, give or take one or two. I’m pretty sure Denial, Anger and Depression are present, but I don’t believe Bargaining or Acceptance ever made it into the mix. I think it is safe to say we would all be a little let down if they had.

As a disclaimer, I will start the Myerson timeline with two tweets Adam sent when I asked him if it was okay to republish his contemporaneous thoughts. First:

• @CXHairs I wouldn’t count my tweets as always reliable, informed, official statements. This is where I think out loud and complain, too.

One of the reasons Myerson has a large Twitter following is because he’s not afraid to speak honestly without filters. However, in the end, he cares as much, and possibly more, than anyone about the sport and wants to maintain an amicable working relationship with all parties. The night of December 1st was a shock to many and we shouldn’t hold accountable anybody for their contemporaneous thoughts. Along those lines, I received one final tweet from Adam before publishing this post:

• @CXHairs I guess just remember that these are people I’m trying to work with, not against, despite everything.

With the disclaimers and warranties behind us, here is what went down December 1, 2010: Continue reading »

Here’s the press release just out from USA Cycling on rule changes for the 2010-2011 season. Some interesting changes vis-a-vis barrier height, number of obstacles, feeding and the pulling of lapped riders. Also, some clarification on hot topics tire width and disc brakes. There is no USA Cycling rule on minimum tire width. This remains unchanged. Disc brakes are also a go (again, not a change, they already were legal).

Full release follows:

Rule changes voted in place for upcoming 2010-2011 Cyclo-cross season

Colorado Springs, Colo. (August 12, 2010) – USA Cycling announced today that its Road, Track & Cyclo-cross Board of Trustees has voted in favor of several rule changes for the upcoming cyclo-cross season.

The new rules are in line with the UCI rulebook and will take effect at the beginning of the 2010/2011 cyclo-cross season. The changes accomplish the following three things:

1) Establish rules for cyclo-cross race feeding

2) Change the manner in which lapped riders are handled to enable the use of the 80% rule currently utilized in many mountain bike events, and

3) Modify the rules regarding course obstacles (barrier height, distance between, and total number of obstacles on the course)

A summary of the rule changes is as follows:

Course Design

There are several important changes to course design as outlined below:

• The nature of the wooden planks has changed. Instead of having to be 40 cm high, they now can be up to 40 cm high. Also, the distance between the planks is now a range of 4 to 6 meters instead of the prescribed 4 meters.
• The number of obstacles has been changed from 6 total obstacles to 6 artificial obstacles. This might make it possible for some courses to have more total obstacles than in the past. However, the limiting factor is that obstacles can still only be 10% of the course, so if you have a 3K circuit, you can only have 300 meters of obstacles.
• The ban on artificial sand was removed and replaced with specifications that if you have artificial sand, it must be 40-80 meters long, straight, and have no lip up or down to access it.

Feeding

Feeding is now authorized under select circumstances:

• It must be at least 68 degrees
• Feeding must take place in the service lane only
• It cannot take place in the first two or the last two laps
• The penalty for feeding any other place or time is disqualification

Tire Width

The UCI has narrowed the maximum width of a cyclo-cross tire from 35 mm to 33 mm. The intent was to reduce the amount of equipment that many riders feel they must bring in order to be competitive.

This rule does not affect local events as we currently have no rules regarding tire width and the USCF Board of Trustees is not adding any tire width requirement.

Disc Brakes

This also does not affect local events, but the UCI will now allow disc brakes for international events.

Lapped Riders

For the second year in a row, the UCI has changed how lapped riders are handled. They now have two ways to handle it. For domestic events, there are now three methods. The officials will decide what method is being used at each race and communicate that method to the riders.

• Lapped riders can be left in the race and may finish on the same lap as the leader.
• Lapped riders can be removed at the entrance to the final straight once they have been lapped. Note, sometimes when there are few officials, these same riders are removed at the line, but the UCI requires that no lapped rider ever cross the finish line.
• Riders may be withdrawn per the 80% rule. For example, if the first lap took 10 minutes, then 80% of that is 8 minutes. This rule would require that each rider who is more than 8 minutes down every lap would be pulled. Again, this should happen at the entrance to the final straight or some other convenient location.

About USA Cycling

Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX and cyclo-cross. As a membership-based organization, USA Cycling comprises 66,500+ licensees; 2,200 clubs and teams; and 34 local associations. The national governing body sanctions 2,650 competitive and non-competitive events throughout the U.S. each year and is responsible for the identification, development, and support of American cyclists. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org.

UCI Legal? You Betcha!

Your UCI has announced new rules for the upcoming cyclocross season. Disc brakes are a go. Those 34mm tyres? Not so much. Just remember, these are UCI and not USA Cycling rules, so this won’t affect you unless you are racing a UCI event. Here’s a run down of the new rules from usacycling.org:

Following the recommendation of the Cyclo-cross Commission, the UCI Management Committee has approved modifications to its cyclo-cross rules which will take effect at the beginning of the 2010-2011 cyclo-cross season. A summary of the changes is as follows:

(1) Disc brakes will now be allowed in cyclo-cross competition.

(2) The legal tire width in competition has also been changed. Width shall not exceed 33 mm, whereas before the maximum width was 35 mm.

(3) Continental Cyclocross Championships have been established.

(4) The “6 obstacle limit” has been changed to a “6 man-made obstacle limit.”

(5) The height of barriers is now a maximum of 40 cm instead of a defined height of 40 cm.

6) Man-made sand pits are now allowed and the dimensions for them have been established.

(7) The distance between planks has been changed to a range of 4 to 6 meters between.

(8) Commissaires may now authorize feeding if the temperature is above 20 degrees C. This feeding takes place in the pit lane, but not during the first two or the last two laps.

9) The commissaires may now invoke the “80% rule” and remove a rider who is behind the leader by 80% of the leader’s lap time. Thus, riders can be pulled before they are lapped.

If you have a CX Time-Trial, it should have a flyover ... and mud.

There has been a lot of talk—maybe too much talk—about this next issue. Yes, I’m talking about the introduction of a time-trial qualifier at ‘Cross Nationals. What was proposed at last weekend’s “Cyclocross Promoters Summit p/b USA Cycling” was a bit confusing and not necessarily explained well in the blogosphere. Thankfully, USA Cycling has now weighed in and issued a press release. Most of the release is about what a great time everybody had at “Cyclocross Promoters Summit p/b USA Cycling.” If you want to read about that, the full release can be found here. 

What interests us, however, was in one of the last paragraphs in the release. And it’s not as bad as first portrayed on the Interwebs and by no means a done deal. As you will see, the time-trial will not disqualify anybody from starting a race. Its purpose, for now, is to determine starting positions after the top eight for non-elite category racers. Here is the relevant language from USA Cycling: 

“USA Cycling staff presented the idea of conducting a time trial at the Cyclo-cross National Championships to create the call-up procedures for the non-elite category riders. The top eight finishers in each category will continue to be called up first. The time trial will offer all participants (for those categories that are not seeded by UCI points), the opportunity to vie for start position via a time trial held on a separate course. All participants, whether they choose to compete in the time trial or not, will retain the right to compete in the their race category with those opting not to contest the time trial called-up behind the last time trial qualifier. The final details on the time trial rules, schedule, process and the time trial course set up will be established and announced by July 1. 

Any and all discussions pertaining to the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are preliminary as the International Cycling Union (UCI) retains all rights to final decision making on world championship policy.” 

Is this good, bad, flawed, perfect. Heck, I don’t know. But at least the proposed changes are a little clearer and from the horse’s mouth. You may now discuss amongst yourselves.

Normally, I like to offer a little more in my posts than a reproduced press release, but this one is too good to pass up. I would book your hotel room today.

January 29, 2010 (Tabor, Czech Republic) - USA Cycling is honored to announce that Louisville, Kentucky today was chosen by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s international governing body, to host the 2013 Elite Cyclo-cross World Championships and the 2012 and 2013 Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships.

2012 Worlds Forecast? 18 Degrees And Snowy This Weekend in Kentucky

This historic appointment is the first time the Cyclo-cross World Championships will be held outside of Europe in the 50 plus year history of the championships. These events will mark the first Elite Cycling World Championship of any discipline held on U.S. soil since the Track World Championships took place in Los Angeles in 2005.

“After more than a decade of working closely with American promoters and the UCI to grow our international calendar of cyclo-cross events, Louisville’s winning bid is a testament to the success of those efforts and to the extraordinary quality of ‘cross racing in the U.S.,” USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson said. Continue reading »