The yellow cards have arrived in cycling: this will be their function

The UCI has approved a battery of measures to maintain and increase security of runners in cycling races. At its last meeting held on June 11 and 12 at its headquarters in Aigle (Switzerland), the world cycling management body agreed on a series of measures and regulations that These will be progressively implemented across races throughout this season and next.

One that is getting more attention is the debut of a yellow card system for men’s and women’s professional road raceslike football, which imposes penalties on behavior that compromises the safety of the race and that This includes all its members, from riders to sports directors, to motorcyclists and staff. of the organization.

The UCI’s latest rule: ‘virtual’ yellow cards as punishment

A yellow card is a warning that the jury of the race will impose and publish on the offenders in the subsequent announcement of the race. There is no physical yellow card that the offender is shown as such, but instead Violation and punishment will be announced when the test or stage is over.

Race stewards, the UCI explains, can impose a yellow card on anyone for any behavior that could endanger the safety of the competition. The 21 career incidents subject to sanctions are listed in article 2.12.007 of the UCI regulations and will add to existing sanctions in the form of fines, disqualification or temporary suspension from competition. In this way, actions like not wearing appropriate clothing or equipment in standards, stick to car races or equipment or perform dangerous maneuversboth runners and other racing vehicles, will be subject to a yellow card and fine or disqualification as appropriate.

In summary, this is the scheme of the system with corresponding penalties:

· Through the accumulation of 2 yellow cards, disqualification of race and suspension of 7 days.

· Through the accumulation of 3 cards within 30 days, suspension of 14 days.

· Through the accumulation of 6 cards a year, 30 day suspension.

The yellow cards They will start to be implemented from August 1 in the competition but, as explained by the UCI, this will not include suspensions due to the accumulation of cards until December 31, 2024, when the organization evaluates the effectiveness of the system. Starting in 2025, the system, including its sanctions, will be fully operational for all members of the race.

Other new UCI rules: reducing earpieces and expanding the safety zone

At this last meeting of the UCI, many other proposals were also approved, some of which are quite relevant for the development of races. The first of them is the reduction in the number of earpieces per teamwhose the number in each block has not yet been determined. The rule aims to increase the safety of the platoon by avoiding distractions to the runners and also group movements ordered from the radio that cause a lack of space and confusion to the platoon leader.

Other decisions of the UCI, which have been the subject of debate between organizers and organizations, are the extension of the finish safety zone from 3 to 5 km. A controversial rule, which allows the same time to be counted for all runners if a cut occurs due to falling inside the safety zone before the finish line, and sometimes causes situations of excessive tension due to placing the cyclists in the kilometer before or the relaxation and lack of competitiveness in the moments after the incident on the part of the runners.

Both standards will have a trial period before definitively applied. And in in the case of the latter, it will be applied only at the request of the organizer of the test, keeping the default of 3 km, has been mandatorily implemented in all races since 2005.