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European Cycling Union opens doors to e-Bike competition

  • Ron 

In a recent press release, the European Cycling Union (UEC) has expressed an openness to creating specific racing events for e-bikes.

The announcement is odd, in that there has been a number of highly publicized “motor doping” instances in UCI sponsored events lately and this new class of events only seems to blur the lines between what is and is not allowed in a competitive environment.

Here’s the full text of the release:

The electric bike sector, currently known as the phenomenon ‘e-bike’, is one of the markets that has recorded a significant increase in sales (for example in Italy, in 2016 the sale of e-bikes increased by 120% in comparison to 2015) and has generated great interest among the general public and others.

With the aim of developing and promoting physical activity using the bike and the involvement of new active groups within the European movement, the Union Européenne de Cyclisme is particularly interested in this new dynamic sector fully sharing the Union Cycliste Internationale’s policy implemented by its new President, David Lappartient, aimed at the recognition of the e-bike among the cycling disciplines recognised by the UCI and not as a division of other federations (for example motorcycling), as proposed in the past.

To enable all types of users to practice cycling actively in a field that up to now only a few experts have been able to access, is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and exciting aspects in a a sector that has great potential.

This is a new way of developing a passion in its most popular form on a large scale that will open up new important markets for the movement, accessible to an even wider audience.

The e-bike phenomenon is also an important means of developing sustainable tourism and protecting the environment with a signficant reduction in pollution, road traffic and and helps to improve the well-being of users.

Rocco Cattaneo, Union Européenne de Cyclisme President: “The e-bike phenomenon is now part of our lives and the use of these bikes is an innovative and revolutionary means of using technology to improve physical health among others.

One of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme’s missions is to promote the use of the bike for all and following the Union Cycliste Internationale’s great interest in this phenomenon, e-bikes are a means of attracting an even wider audience to the bike and we cannot stand by and watch on the sidelines.

We have therefore started working on creating a project to organise major e-bike events catered for traditional cycling as well as Road and MTB/Cross-Country, an e-bike sector which is developing very quickly.

With the help of technicians, we are looking for specific events to carry out tests starting from next season and within two years to organise a race circuit known as UEC e-Bike European Tour and an official European Championships for e-bikes whose main objective will be to combine physical effort with the pleasure of cycling in unique settings, with physical effort that does put too much stress on the body and is accessible to all.”

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