NBL Statement regarding the UCI race in Louisville
To the athletes, coaches and those concerned:
Hilliard, OH – September 8, 2007 – The National Bicycle League (NBL) would like to issue the following statement regarding the 2008 UCI North American Continental series race, held on Friday, August 31 at the Derby City track in Louisville, KY.
Through our relationship with UCI and USA Cycling, we were selected to organize and run the 2008 UCI Continental Series races that have now become an integral part of the Olympic qualifying process. We made the commitment to do these races to support the athletes and their Olympic dreams. These UCI races along with our NBL Elite series races continue to attract national and international athletes from around the world and we are working hard to ensure that both series’ are run fairly and efficiently. We recognize the importance of the UCI races and to ensure that all races are scored properly, we have incorporated the Transponder system to record the results of each race electronically. NBL has played a key role in getting BMX into the Olympic program and we are proud to be a part of the exciting process that will see BMX in the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.
We fully understand the level of importance these UCI events have in the Olympic qualifying process and would like to clear up some of the mis-information and confusion about the re-run of the first quarter-final and the building of the quarter and semi-finals for the Elite Men’s class at the UCI event in Louisville, KY.
The computer software and respective transfer tables used at this race were the same ones used at the 2007 UCI World Championships in Victoria, Canada. The Elite Men’s class in Louisville had 38 riders, which, according to the 2008 transfer tables transferred riders as follows:
• 33-40 riders – transfers 24 riders to three – 8 man quarters and then 12 riders to two – 6 man semis
• 41-48 riders – transfers 24 riders to three – 6,7 or 8 man quarters and then 12 riders to two – 6 man semis
• 49 or more – transfers 28 – 32 riders to four – 7 or 8 man quarters and then 16 riders to two – 8 man semis
At the World Championships, there were enough Elite Men that they fell into the bracket with more than 49 riders which called for four – 8 man quarters which then transferred to two – 8 man semis. The Elite Women class at the World Championships fell into the 33-40 rider transfer table bracket as did the Elite Men in Louisville. This called for three 8-man quarters which transferred 12 riders to two – 6 man semis.
UCI has acknowledged that these table were not published on the UCI website or in any printed rulebook but has assured the NBL that they were used at the Worlds with the intention of being used for the entire 2008 season.
UCI staff running the race in Louisville did make an error in posting the three – 8 man quarter-finals that contained less than the required 8 riders per quarter-final. This caused several unfortunate delays and officials were required re-post the quarter-finals and re-run the first quarter-final. UCI recognizes that this transfer table is affecting 4 riders who do not get the chance to earn, at minimum, semi-final points and has indicated that they may change the software and respective tables accordingly.
We sincerely apologize to any riders, coaches, and staff who were affected by the quarter-final re-run but according to the UCI transfer tables, the number of athletes in the Elite Men’s class called for three – 8 rider quarter-finals transferring to two – 6 man semi-finals and not four – 6 man quarter finals transferring to two – 8 man semi-finals. We are working with UCI to correct this situation and will announce any changes prior to the UCI Continental races held in Boulder City, Nevada in October.
– NBL Management
