The Dutch cycling federation has gone much further than
the UCI measures aimed at Russian and Belarusian cycling interests as it has
banned all riders from both countries from competing in its races.
The move means Russian riders like Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos
Grenadiers) cannot ride
Amstel Gold or any other race in the country.
The
Dutch federation has also said it will not send its national selections to
compete in any races where Russian or Belarusian cyclists are competing, thus
raising the prospect of a boycott by the Netherlands of the Worlds or Europeans.
The Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) has also said it plans to encourage other national governing bodies within cycling to follow its example, adding in a statement it “condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
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“As a federation,
we will not participate in events or competitions in Russia and Belarus until
further notice, we will not compete as a national selection against Russian and
Belarusian cyclists and we will not admit them to competitions and events that
are organized in the Netherlands,” the Dutch federation said.
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“We will also
advocate this line within the international cycling organisations. Meanwhile,
our thoughts are first of all with everyone in Ukraine affected by this
war. We hope that this terrible situation will come to an end soon.”
Under
the UCI measures, Russian and Belarusian teams and events were stripped of
their UCI status, which effectively mothballs those Continental and
ProContinental teams until further notice.
However,
the UCI measures only relate to teams from those two countries, rather than
riders from the countries who compete for international teams.
The
UCI has also left the door open to Russian and Belarusian riders competing in
international events – such as the Worlds – if some form of individual entry
was permitted at the time.
Any national federation is allowed to introduce restrictions for their own country that are more stringent than the UCI and those more stringent national measures taken precedence.
