News
ritish Cycling
has announced
a new junior
women’s road cycling
race series for 2018, the
first time such a series
has been run by BC
specifically for women
aged 16-18.
BC described the new
four-date series as a
“progressive step forward
for women’s road racing”,
and said it aimed to create
a bridge between youth
and senior levels.
Jonny Clay, BC’s
director of cycling, said:
“This is fantastic news
and represents another
progressive step forward
for women’s road racing
in Britain. There is now a
more structured pathway
for progression for female
riders moving up from the
youth category, which can
only aid their education
and development as
competitive riders. Thisdevelopment follows on
from some great work by
dedicated volunteers in
building fledgling events,
allowing us to create an
appropriately sized series
that further underlines
the continued growth of
women’s racing.”
The series comes after
the running of a stand-
alone junior women’s
national championship
race category in 2017. The
venues for the series will
be announced at a later
date. It will also help BC
reach its commitment
to get one million more
women cycling by 2020,
and promises that the
new competition “further
underlines British
Cycling’s desire to reduce
the traditional gender
imbalance in the sport”.
The launch of the junior
women’s racing series
followed the release of
BC’s annual report inwhich chief executive
Julie Harrington said the
organisation had made
“substantial progress”
over the past year,
specifically in the wake of
an independent review of
its culture and a UK Anti-
Doping investigation.
“The last 12 months
have been a time of
great change for British
Cycling,” said Harrington.
“When an organisation
has been as successful
as we have over the last
two decades it’s only right
to answer some tough
questions. Substantial
progress has been made
and we will continue to
welcome those tough
queries. However, there
can be no room for
complacency, and my first
priority is to ensure we live
up to our ambition to be a
world-leading governing
body of which all our
members can be proud.”Sagan and UCI end
legal dispute over
Tour disqualification
Peter Sagan and the UCI have agreed to end
their legal dispute over the Bora-Hansgrohe
rider’s disqualification from the 2017 Tour de
France. Sagan was disqualified from the race
after clashing with Mark Cavendish in the sprint
on stage four, causing Cavendish to crash.
Sagan and his Bora-Hansgrohe team
argued the UCI commissaires were wrong to
disqualify Sagan and decided to take the case
to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
However, ahead of the hearing on Tuesday,
all parties jointly agreed to drop the case.
A joint statement said: “Having considered
the materials submitted in the CAS
proceedings, including video footage that
was not available at the time when the race
jury had disqualified Peter Sagan, the parties
agreed that the crash was an unfortunate and
unintentional race incident.”BC unveils junior
women’s road race series
Four-date event a ‘progressive step’
Photo: SWpix
Eight riders have failed anti-doping tests
on samples taken during the 2017 Vuelta
a Colombia in August, the Union Cycliste
Internationale confirmed on Tuesday.
The UCI said that seven of the eight failed a
test for blood booster CERA EPO from blood
samples taken on August 1-2, including Luis
Alberto Largo Quintero (Sogamoso-Argos-
Cooservicios-IDRS), Jonathan Felipe Paredes
Hernandez (Ebsa-Indeportes Boyacá),
Edward Fabián Diaz Cardenas (EPM), Fabio
Nelson Montenegro Forero (Ebsa-Indeportes
Boyacá), Luis Camargo Flechas (Supergiros),
Fabian Robinson Lopez Rivera (Loteria de
Boyacá) and Oscar Soliz Vilca (Movistar
Te a m A m é r i c a).
The eighth rider, Juan Carlos Cadena
Sastoque (Depormundo-M.Bosa-Ramguiflex),
failed a test for anabolic androgenic steroids,
19-noretiocholanolone and 19-norandrosterone,
from a urine sample taken on August 11. All
eight riders have been provisionally suspended
from competition pending adjudication.Eight suspended for
Vuelta a Colombia
doping offences
The series is slated
to begin next year16 | December 7, 2017 | Cycling Weekly