UCI bans Russian and Belarusian national teams after invasion of Ukraine

The UCI has banned teams representing  Russia or Belarus at national level, as well as those registered in the two countries, from all events it sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

World cycling’s governing body has also struck all events scheduled to take place in Russia or Belarus this year from its calendar.

Cyclists licensed to either of the national federations of those countries will still be allowed to compete for teams registered elsewhere – but national emblems, such as the jersey of national champion, will not be allowed.

The UCI’s management committee made the decision following an emergency meeting of international sporting bodies in Lausanne this morning organised by the International Olympic Committee.

The UCI, while stressing ] it is “a politically neutral organisation” expressed “its very great concern over the situation in Ukraine and firmly condemns the aggression of the Russian and Belarusian governments and their non-respect of the Olympic Truce.”

It said that it “wishes to see a return to peace as rapidly as possible and calls for the respect of Olympic values. Indeed, sport in general and cycling in particular are vehicles of peace, friendship, solidarity and tolerance.”

The governing body said that it had “decided to offer its support to the Ukrainian cycling community and has committed to welcoming Ukrainian athletes to the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC), its education and training centre in Aigle, Switzerland.

“In this respect, the UCI is in permanent contact with the National Federation of Ukraine. The UCI President David Lappartient, together with the President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC) Enrico Della Casa, will meet the President and representatives of the Ukraine National Federation during the UEC Congress in Denmark this weekend to define the procedures for coming to the aid of Ukraine’s cycling community,” it continued.

It outlined the following measures, which it said had been adopted unanimously:

1. Russian and Belarusian national teams and / or national selections are not authorised to take part in any events on the UCI International Calendar, with immediate effect.
2. UCI Team status is withdrawn from all teams under Russian or Belarusian nationality and the UCI shall not consider any further applications for UCI status from teams from these two countries. The withdrawal of UCI Team status concerns the following teams:
- UCI ProTeam Gazprom – RusVelo (RUS)
- UCI Continental Team Vozrozhdenie (RUS)
- UCI Track Team Marathon – Tula Cycling Team (RUS)
- UCI Continental Team CCN Factory Racing (BLR)
- UCI Continental Team Minsk Cycling Club (BLR)
- UCI Women’s Continental Team Minsk Cycling Club (BLR).
3. The UCI withdraws all Russian and Belarusian events from the 2022 UCI International Calendar and shall not consider any further registration requests. The following events are concerned by the withdrawal from the UCI International Calendar:
- Grand Prix Moscow 1: class 2 track event (20-21 May 2022)
- Granfondo Moscow: UCI Granfondo World Series event (21-22 May 2022)
- Grand Prix Moscow 2: category 2 track event (22 May 2022)
- Grand Prix Saint-Petersburg: category 2 track event (26-29 May 2022)
- Five Rings of Moscow: class 2.2 road event (8-12 June 2022).
4. The Russian and Belarusian National Championships are also withdrawn from the UCI International Calendar.
5. The appearance of all emblems, names, acronyms, flags and anthems linked to Russia and Belarus are prohibited at all events on the UCI International Calendar. The Russian and Belarusian National Champions’ jerseys are therefore banned.
6. Any bids from Russian and Belarusian candidates for the organisation of UCI events shall not be considered.
7. The UCI forbids organisers of events on the UCI International Calendar from inviting Russian and Belarusian club, regional or mixed teams.
8. The UCI will not appoint Russian or Belarusian International Commissaires to UCI International Calendar events until further notice.

The UCI added that “Russian and Belarusian licence-holders are authorised to take part in events on the UCI International Calendar with their respective teams provided they are registered with a UCI Team that is neither Russian nor Belarusian. Russian and Belarusian riders can also participate in UCI International Calendar events if individual registration is authorised.”

It said that any such participation should be undertaken “in a neutral capacity” and called on “organisers, spectators and competitors to respect Russian and Belarusian riders at races in which they would be authorised to participate.”