How the new UCI regulation changes will impact North American cyclocross

Foreign rider requirements for C1 races, fixed dates for national championships and equal pay outs at cyclocross series amoung new rules imposed by the UCI to cyclocross

Philippe Tremblay November 6, 2018

Silver Goose Pan-American championships — American national champion Stephen Hyde keeps a close eye on Canadian national champion Michael van den Ham, while Curtis White sits on the front at the Silver Goose.

The UCI has approved updated regulations for its cyclocross calendar as first noted by CXHairs. The changes were decided upon at the UCI Management Committee meeting at the Innsbruck UCI Road World Championships in Sept. at the same time the road calendar for both men and women were updated. North American cyclocross could be impacted by the announcement because of a requirement for UCI C1 events to have 10 foreign starters of at least five different nationalities that the UCI intends to begin implementing.

All UCI C1 races currently on the North American calendar take place in the U.S. These include single days of racing at Rochester Cyclocross, RenoCross, Jingle Cross, Charm City CX, Cincinnati Cyclocross Weekend and Ruts ‘n Guts. However, the classification of most of those events will be in jeopardy because according to a regulation that the UCI intends to being enforcing that only UCI races that had 10 foreign riders of at least five different nationalities in 2018 will be eligible for UCI C1 status in 2019.

That would mean many of the above-mentioned events could be relegated to C2 status making it more difficult for North American riders to accumulate UCI points. Jingle Cross was the only American UCI C1 race so far in 2018 that had at least 10 foreign riders of five different nationalities present. Additionally, any new event on the calendar must start as a C2 race before being eligible to apply for C1 status. There are four UCI C2 races in Canada this season.

In the current structure, UCI points are awarded 15 riders deep at C1 races while only 10 deep in C2 races. Additionally, you get double the number of points for winning or placing at a C1 race over a C2 race. The UCI will announce a new points structure in June 2019 for Continental and national championships, and C1 races.

In addition to the changes in the classifications of events, all UCI races will be required to have junior men events. No such requirement exists for junior women. The UCI rule that organizers can only have one race on the course at a time will not apply to the junior men’s event.

Under-23 men’s races will no longer be authorized at UCI cyclocross events with the exception of at UCI recognized series, national championships, Continental championships, UCI World Cups and the UCI World Championships.

Another restriction that could affect cyclocross series in Europe, particularly Belgium, is a rule that there can only be two UCI series per national federation with a series comprised of a maximum of eight races. The UCI mandates organizers must give equal payouts to at the least the top three men and women at sanction series events.

The list of changes goes on to say that all national championships will be run on a mandatory date fixed annual by the UCI management committee. Most nations have their championships race in January but Canada hosts its in November because the weather in most of Canada in January wouldn’t permit for a big cyclocross event. UCI says that it will consider exceptions for countries in the southern hemisphere or because of “force majeure” which may give Canada a way to continue holding the championships during the fall.