Gravel World Championships: UCI blames local organisers for lack of live broadcast of women’s race
Women's race not broadcast as UCI say they will make coverage mandatory from 2024
Daniel Benson
Editor in Chief
© Sprint Cycling Agency
The elite women's race of the 2023 Gravel World Championships will not be broadcast live
The UCI has laid the responsibility for the lack of live television coverage from the women’s race at the Gravel World Championships at the feet of the local organising committee.
The governing body’s response was published on Saturday morning, an hour after the women’s elite field had started their race in Veneto. Controversially, the men’s race on Sunday will be broadcast in full.
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“L’Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has been informed by the Local Organising Committee of the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships in Veneto (Italy) that today's Women Elite race will not be broadcasted live due to no TV production,” the UCI’s statement read.
“The UCI regrets this decision and invites all fans to follow the race live on social media. Fans will also be able to follow the race via the riders' lap times by clicking here. A summary of the race will be posted online as soon as possible, and numerous highlights of the competition will be broadcasted during the Men Elite race on Sunday.”
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The UCI ended their communication by stating that the following gravel Worlds would have mandatory live broadcasts from both the men’s and women’s race.
“As of the next edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships, UCI will make it mandatory for event organisers to provide TV production for both the Men Elite and the Women Elite races,” the statement said.
The lack of information from the women’s race has been met with disappointment from fans, riders and media on social platforms.
GCN is on the ground at the Championships and the information has been limited at best surrounding the women’s race.
Earlier this morning, the media press room at the finish in Veneto was shown a replay of the 2022 men’s race before that was replaced by a TV screen that displayed a WhatsApp group that showed text information and inaccessible audio updates from the race. This was later replaced by a Google Docs page that provided limited information about the riders in the lead group.
GCN has been told that UCI President David Lappartient will not attend this year’s Gravel World Championships.
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