CPA working on riders safety: fruitful meeting with AIOCC at Flanders 2021 World Championships
from 27/09/21
After almost two years of online meetings, the World Championships in Flanders that ended yesterday was an opportunity for the International Association of Riders (CPA) to meet again in person. During the rainbow weekend that crowned Elisa Balsamo and Julian Alaphilippe queen and king of the road race, riders' representatives met with the leadership of the International Association of Cycle Race Organisers (AIOCC) to take stock of some safety issues encountered during the season and to jointly make improvements to individual races.
«We have reviewed with the AIOCC members the surveys we submit to the riders during each race along with the report our delegate carry out and have established a working method to intervene with the organisers of the individual events for the solution of some aspects that could be improved in each race» said Pascal Chanteur, vice president and head of safety at the CPA. «Feedback from the riders each race is important to define some priorities for action, sometimes easy to implement, sometimes less so. We know that organising cycling events on the roads, in the cities, guaranteeing absolute safety is a huge undertaking, made even more complicated in recent times by the pandemic. The organisers invest a lot in the safety of the riders and have the same interest as the athletes in ensuring their safety. To the great work already done by the organisers and the UCI on safety, we wanted to add elements that will be useful to the work that the whole movement is doing, offering the point of view of those who live the race in person. We are really pleased and grateful to the organisers for having opened a constructive dialogue with us and the riders and for wanting to give concrete answers to our requests».
During the Worlds, the CPA Steering Committee met to take stock of various activities for the benefit of the riders. The meeting was attended by all the members of the association chaired by Gianni Bugno and therefore by Belgian (BPCA), French (UNCP/AFCC), Italian (ACCPI), Spanish (ACP), Portuguese (APCP), Swiss (ACPS), Polish (SKZP), American (ANAPRC), Australians (AAPC), Colombians (ASCICOL), including representatives of the CPA Women led by Alessandra Cappellotto, publicly thanked by the UCI for her commitment to Afghan women cyclists and those from emerging countries with the Asd Road to Equality. On the agenda, in addition to the safety in the race, also some improvements on the technical materials to be proposed to the UCI; the prize management with the new platform that has brought great advantages to the riders; the project to create job opportunities for the post-career, taking inspiration from what has already been done by many associations locally, for all the countries represented; the growth of the women's movement; the plan for the relaunch of the transition fund.
«Even during the pandemic we have never stopped working for our members and all the riders, finding ourselves face to face however was exciting as well as feeling the warmth of the public for the riders who offered a real show - comments the president of the CPA Gianni Bugno, celebrated like all the world champions on the occasion of the 100th edition of the rainbow event. - In the past few days we have had the opportunity to compare ourselves with the other stakeholders to make our movement stronger and more cohesive».