Norwegian 17-year-old Iver Knotten was seen collapsed and shaking at the Worlds. His team said he passed out due to the heat. But the UCI's Brian Cookson, above, says riders are always visibly exhausted at the Worlds.
UCI president Brian Cookson has defend the choice of Doha as host for the World Road Championships, saying despite apparent evidence to the contrary there had been no cases of heat-stroke so far.
And he said there was “no secret” that about €9 million was paid to the UCI to hold the races in Qatar.
The cycling media and social media have carried video and photos of riders looking very distressed in the heat in recent days.
The worst case was that of Norwegian rider Iver Knotten (17) who collapsed at the roadside during the junior road race on Friday.
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Norway coach Kai Lexberg told procycling.no that Knotten’s case “was simply a heat collapse”.
But Cookson has defended holding the championships in temperatures that that have reach 47.9 °C – according to Luke Rowe’s on-board computer – saying there had been no cases of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
He was speaking before today’s elite women’s race in which Mexican rider Sofia Arreola was taken to hospital apparently suffering with the effects of racing in such high temperatures.
“We have not had any cases of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, as I’ve been advised by the medical team,” Cookson said.
“We’ve had plenty of cases of exhaustion, plenty of cases of riders being extremely fatigued, which you get at any World Championships, but no actual cases of heat exhaustion, so I’m advised by our medical team.”
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Akelige beelden bij de wegrit voor junioren. De Noor Iver Knotten valt om en ligt al schokkend op de grond. Hallo, UCI?! #UCIDoha2016 #WK pic.twitter.com/OXEoBZEigg
— Tim van Dijk (@TimvanDijk1991) October 14, 2016
The UCI has a contingency in place to scrap the 150km out and back section of the men’s pro race through the desert tomorrow and just run the schedule seven laps of 15km course at the end of the desert section.
But Cookson said he feels that step, which would reduce the race to just 107km, will not be needed because the heat has not been a significant problem.
“We have a contingency plan in place but it is just that: a contingency plan,” Cookson explain.
“As at this moment in time, it doesn’t look like it will be needed. The full distance will be raced.”
And Cookson added while there were very few, if any, spectators for some of the races, he believed there was strong interest in cycling in the region.
“Obviously this is a part of the world where cycling is not an immediately popular sport, but I think we’ll see a good crowd on Sunday. It is what it is. We’re here.
“We’ve got to bear in mind it’s not just about spectators on the ground, but about television images and the television audience as well.
“There’s a lot of interest in cycling out here. There’s a lot interest in supporting, funding and sponsoring cycling by way of running events here or sponsoring and running teams. That’s a good thing, I think.
“I think it’s fair to say that this is a part of the world where interest in our sport is growing. It’s still relatively small in terms of the number of spectators on the roadside but we are here.
“They are doing a good job for us, they’re promoting the race well, the standard of organisation is high.
“The decision to come here was made four years ago, there was a lot of discussion about it at the time and a very substantial fee was paid to the UCI, there’s no secret about it.
“I think the figure was around 10 million Swiss Francs. I don’t think there’s a huge secret about that.”
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