‘I Feel Pretty Pissed Off’: UCI Under Fire for Last Minute Rule Change

Cycling’s governing body the UCI has caused controversy before with what riders and teams have said are unfair regulations. It is once more in the firing line Friday, with past Australian champion Peta Mullens accusing it of an unfair last minute rule change.

Mullens, who was Australian road race champ in 2015, expressed her frustration in a social media post. The 38 year old said she had travelled to the UCI Gravel world championships in Nannup after clear indications that she could ride the 35 to 39 year old age event.

She was all set to do so Saturday, until she and other riders were hit by unexpected news.

“I got an email from the UCI 48 hours out from the race to say that I had been bumped up to the elite field,” she said. “The reason cited was that I had 100 UCI points from the last UCI race that I competed in 14 months ago.”

Mullens qualified for the gravel worlds this summer and, conscious about having UCI points, sought to ensure there wouldn’t be an issue.

“Just to be certain I emailed them anyway [to make sure] that my UCI points weren’t a problem,” she explained. “And they replied quoting their own rulebook, which of course I had already read, and confirmed that any UCI points in a different discipline weren’t relevant to gravel. Happy days. Age group worlds, here I come.

“What happened between now and then? Well, one week ago, the UCI reversed that ruling to state that if you have any elite UCI points in any cycling discipline, you have to race elite at a world championship.”

Mullen said that she understands rules change. She said she would accept it if new regulations modified things going forward from that point. However the issue is one of timing, and the UCI backtracking on what it had previously said.

“You can’t give athletes one set of rules and let them spent thousands of dollars qualifying and travelling to a world championship,” she said. “And then change rules the week before the race, and apply it retrospectively as well.”

’It feels like it has fallen on deaf ears’

Mullen is clearly put out. She has incurred expenses and structured her plans around riding her age category at the worlds. It has clearly been an objective for months. However learning that she will be bumped up a level and will have to compete against current pro riders which far more experience is something she argues is wrong.

“It doesn’t just affect me,” she said. “It affects 12 other riders, half of whom have travelled from Europe. So how do I feel about it? Pretty pissed off, honestly. It feels unnecessarily unjust. Especially for a race that I was really hot to do on home soil.”

The women’s races at the gravel worlds will take place on Saturday, with the elite men’s race following on Sunday.

Mullens said efforts to negotiate appear to have had no effect.

“Myself and other athletes who are affected have been in contact with the UCI representatives who are on the ground in the last 24 hours,” she explained. “But it feels like it has all fallen on deaf ears. So tomorrow I will line up in the elite field.”

Left with no choice, she has chosen to approach that race with excitement, even if her chances of a big result have been seriously impacted.

“To the UCI, this isn’t about whether or not the rule is right or wrong,” she said.

“It is about when you chose to apply it. We play by your rules all season and then you change them at the finish line. That’s not cool.

“But also it’s not even a little bit surprising.”