New ABA Pro Rules Synch Up Classes With UCI, Pause Dom/Alise Rivalry…Sort Of.
Just before Disney, the ABA put out some hints that they would be making changes (some said dramatic changes) to the Pro classes for 2010. After three weeks of uncontrolled-burn of the rumor mill on the forums, the official rules were released today. And the sky IS NOT falling.
For those who are uncomfortable with change, however, it may take a little getting used to (like the first few times you heard the Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep of the random gate in Reno or Guthrie last year).
The changes center largely on aligning the ABA Pro classes to the age requirements of the UCI Elite and Junior classes. This permits Pros to earn ABA and UCI points at the same time (instead of running a UCI race on Saturday under UCI rules, and an ABA Pro race on Sunday under the ABA rules). For 2010, all ABA Pro races will also be UCI races (of one stripe or another…more on that later).
This brings the Jr. Women class into the spotlight in a big way. We are used to seeing the younger women not gated up with their older ABA competitors at UCI events (for example Arielle Martin not racing Alise and Dom in Adelaide), but back on home turf, the race was on with all going for it at once. In 2010, Jr. Women comes to ABA racing, which means Dominique, Taylor Wolcott and Brooke Crain say bye bye to racing Alise (now 19 in “UCI years”), Arielle and others—unless the Jr. Women class doesn’t make. AND, to make it even more exciting, both classes will recombine at the Grand National and will race each other for the ABA National Number 1 Womens Pro Title.
It also has radical implications for NBL Elite riders who are not 19, and Super-Ex riders who are not at least 17. The new rules would mandate these riders to race either Amateur, or Jr. Men.
With so many questions potentially swirling around these changes, BMXNEWS wanted to get a from-the-boss-himself answer to our questions. Thus, ABA BMX CEO, BA Anderson agreed to give BMXNEWS an exclusive interview today to answer our questions on the new pro rules, and how they impact our readers.
Before you listen to that, please download the PDF containing the full rule changes. This will help you fully understand the interview.
Listen to the Podcast by clicking the player below. Running time: About 20 Minutes
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