Following an emergency Tuesday meeting of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for the sport of cycling, the Management Committee has unanimously approved new strong measures to shut down all Russian and Belarusian cycling teams and events governed by the UCI, including amateur Gran Fondo World Series races in Moscow.

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The UCI was slow to take a meaning full stance and shut down Russian events in response to the Ukraine invasion, but the new strong measures taking immediate effect are being well received by both professional and amateur cyclists.

The measures do not target individual riders within Russia or Belarus, but national teams and riders selected to represent those countries are now banned from UCI events. This means amateur Russian and Belarussian riders may not participate in the Trento UCI Gran Fondo World Championships representing their home country and governing cycling federation.

All Russian and Belarusian events from the 2022 UCI Calendar are withdrawn immediately and cancelled, including Gran Fondo Moscow, a UCI Gran Fondo World Series and Gran Fondo World Championship qualifying event 21-22 May 2022.

Finally, all patriotic emblems, names, acronyms, flags and anthems linked to Russia and Belarus are prohibited at all UCI events, including the Gran Fondo World Series, and therefore, Russian and Belarusian national themed jerseys, bibs, socks, etc. are banned.

PHOTOS: UCI