Peter Van den Abeele showed his concern towards declining fame of cyclo-cross
UCI has shown its concern for the dropping popularity of cyclo-cross outside Belgium and USA. The international cycling body is taking necessary measures to ensure the growth of cyclo-cross across the world.
UCI off-road discipline manager, Peter Van den Abeele suggested that the lack of interest by the international cyclists and sponsors is the main reason behind the declining popularity of the discipline.
During an interview with De Zondag, Abeele revealed that there are a total number of 400 international mountain bike races throughout the year.
On the other hand, cyclo-cross is less than 50% as only two countries are hosting the event with 150 races throughout the UCI calendar.
Belgian cyclists are leading all the top races currently and even if any non-Belgian riders take the top positions, they leave the race to participate in the road events.
Van commented, "There's the super high level in Flanders (Belgium). Riders and organizers are super professional, and that is a huge hurdle for the others. Try to climb over that as a non-Belgian".
He also cited that one of the main reasons behind the limited fame of the cyclo-cross is because of the fact that the event is not a part of the Olympics.
It is because of the same reason that there is no separate budget allotted for the promotion of the event.
On a positive side, Abeele is hopeful that the growing interest of the race in USA can help in endorsing the race to other countries.
He briefed, "I'm really happy that we have the world championships at the USA in 2013. Maybe that will do something internationally. It's in the States where they have a fire burning for 'cross. The man from Cross Vegas [Brook Watts] is doing a great job.
He tries to copy the Flemish races. We need men like him”.
In a meeting held with the former cyclo cross organiser, Guerciotti, Van shared his concerns to ensure the continuation of the race in Italy.
He believes that the major cycling nations in Europe, mainly Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Denmark, need to take steps to promote the contest and ensure its continuation.
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