Regarding information released by some press agencies about riders from the BMC Racing Team not taking part in the next edition of the Road European Championships on 8 August (Time-Trial) and 12 August (Road Race) in Glasgow (Great Britain), the Union Européenne de Cyclisme President, Rocco Cattaneo stated:
«We are shocked to have been informed by the press about the BMC Racing Team’s decision to not allow any of its riders to be part of the national teams that will be competing in the next Road European Championships.
For many years, this team, which includes major international riders, has followed an excellent policy of promoting and nurturing young talent and their absence will be a great shame for these young riders for whom the European Championships are a great opportunity to showcase their talent wearing their own country’s jersey in an event which has wide TV coverage thanks to the agreement signed between the UEC and Eurovision, since the competitions will be broadcast live in 43 countries with over 2,400 hours of live coverage.
We would also like to point out that in agreement with the organisers, like last year, we have organised a charter flight on the evening of 12 August to the Netherlands to enable riders taking part in the European Championships with their national teams to get to the start of the BinckBank Tour the next day.
The BMC Racing Team, thanks to its former boss, Andy Rihs who sadly recently passed away, has always been open to any initiative to help develop the cycling movement, which has received an additional boost since 2016 with the creation of the Elite European Championships.
In view of all of this, we wish to stress that we have had no prior contact with the team’s technical team who we will get in touch with to find out the reasons behind this decision and to try to find a positive solution to this matter, in the interest of the event and the riders’ national teams.»
