The UCI prohibits the «ball bug», what will be next?
Once again the UCI is making waves with its latest statement announcing different measures and modifications to the regulations, this time on the danger of positions such as the «ball bug».
If on other occasions they have been aspects such as the regulation of the size of socks, this time the commotion in the networks has been produced by the paragraph in which it is announced: “…and taking up dangerous positions on the bike ( especially sitting on the top tube)”.
Application measure as of April 1 and that ends de facto with the popular "ball bug" position that we saw Peter Sagan use after his winning attack at the Richmond World Cup in 2015 but which was definitely popularized by Chris Froome in the descent of Peyresourde in the 8th stage of the Tour de France and which helped him win victory at the finish line located in Luchon.
Coincidentally the same port and the same stage finish in which Pedro Delgado earned the nickname “Le fou del Pyrénées” in the 1983 Tour.
https://pedrodelgado.com/
Once again it is curious that the UCI is dedicated to establishing a regulation on a position that, to date, is not known to have been the cause of any fall or incident, with so many other aspects that perhaps require more immediate attention .
This absence of mishaps leads us to the assumption (totally personal interpretation) that in this case what the international federation intends to stop is the imitation that occurs among cyclists and runners of other categories, usually with less technical skill and mastery of the bicycle than the professionals themselves who have been using this resource to scrape seconds off the descents.
Beyond giving an opinion on whether the prohibition is right or wrong, or if it is a dangerous position or not, which I personally think is no more than, for example, taking off or putting on clothes while shooting at 60 per hour indoors What worries a peloton is the melon that the UCI opens with this regulation.
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First of all because of the arbitrariness of the phrase "taking dangerous positions on the bike"
What defines what is or is not a dangerous position beyond the one outlined? sitting posture on the tube?
Does this mean that positions like the one used by Perico with his chest turned over the handlebars or the opposite used by Pantani hanging his butt behind the saddle can still be used?
Is the traditional aerodynamic position with your head glued to the handlebars and your hands close together holding onto the crosshead dangerous or not?
And that typical placement of wheelers with their forearms on an imaginary time trial handlebar?
Ambiguity is never good when we talk about rules and regulations, but that is precisely what the UCI seems to have introduced with this latest statement, leaving the power to decide what is or is not dangerous in the hands of the referee on duty.
By: Sergio Palomar
Photo: Eurosport
