It's Mine! No, It's Mine!

While teams were riding their legs off and racing there hearts out at Milan-San Remo, the race radio fuelled debate between the UCI and the teams was getting nasty.
UCI's Open Letter to Pro Riders Regarding Radio Ban

According to this letter from UCI President Pat McQuaid, when riders were surveyed in 2009, only one in four responded and was evenly split between those for and against banning two-way race radios. It goes on to question why the riders' opinions "suddenly" changed and if they were being pressured to change their stance. I find it interesting that McQuaid is criticizing riders for caving in to the wishes of their sport directors, when he admits earlier in this same letter to caving to pressure from television networks.

And now, news comes down the pipe that some teams are thinking of leaving the UCI and starting their own cycling league.
Eleven Major Teams Considering Plans to Break Away from the UCI

The teams are, understandably, keeping mum about a possible break. This whole fight is about so much more than two-way radios, it's about control. The UCI controls every single aspect of the sport: Who can ride, what teams get licensed to race, the race calendar, doping regulations and consequences, what equipment is legal, the list goes on. The riders themselves have very little say in how the sport is governed and run from day-to-day. Perhaps one good thing to come out of this whole thing will be more input from the riders on the sport that they give the best years of their lives to.

Is there no way these people can share a sandbox?

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.

Pulling the Plug

The racing community heard last week that professional cycling's governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), voted to phase out two-way race radios. Tighten your helmet straps, everybody, it's going to be a bumpy night.

For those who don't know, every racer wears a two-way radio that is connected to the team director in the car following the peloton. The director has access to video from the cameras following the peloton, radio broadcasts from the commissionaires on the current course conditions and where the peloton is in relation to the overall course for the day. Sounds good, right?

Those who are for the use of radios cite improved safety and better communication with riders as benefits to keeping them around. When many directors and riders heard of the decision to ban radios, their reaction was that UCI is out of touch with racing and how the game works in the 21st century. When the 2009 Tour de France prohibited radios for Stage 10, the peloton soft-pedaled the stage in apparent protest.

Michael Barry, a professional cyclist who now rides for Columbia-HTC wrote a great opinion piece for VeloNews.com expressing why this race radio ban will ultimately be good for the sport. Riders who have never ridden without a director talking in their ear have never had to learn the finer points of tactics and are sometimes incapable of acting without an order in their ear. Sport directors have become puppeteers and their racers puppets, in a way.

What do I think? I've raced my bicycle without a team or radio and I know that it can be done successfully. Just not by me, yet. So a strong rider loses some time due waiting for a flat change because he can't talk to the car? Cry me a river. That's racing! It sucks sometimes, but that's the way the game is played.

I'll keep watching and rooting for my favorite riders, with or without race radios. Without, though, would make things a lot more interesting to watch.

Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.