The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has granted permission to South African cyclists living abroad to participate at the 2020 UCI World Championships in Imola, Italy.
Due to the ongoing spread of Covid-19, the current legislation in the country does not permit South Africans to travel internationally for leisure or participation in international sporting competitions.
The Department, however, have allowed the international based cyclists to participate under the following guidelines:
- No national team may be selected, but permission for an individual entry into the championships is granted by the government to those athletes who are currently abroad, with the necessary work or residence permits in place.
• It should be noted that countries in Europe have different entry requirements, even from neighbouring Schengen countries and athletes requesting to be entered should ensure that they adhere to the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation requirements of each hosting nation’s government. - CyclingSA shall facilitate entry into these competitions upon request by the individual athletes.
- As no National Team selection may take place, CyclingSA’s selector panels for both Road and MTB have agreed that the criteria for application for individual entry shall be as follows:
• Riders based abroad who are classified on the UCI World Ranking of the disciplines may request to be entered.
• The World Rankings in reference will be that as of 1 September 2020.
• National Champions requesting participation shall be allowed first entry.
• If the entry quota as allocated by the UCI is reached, CyclingSA will enter riders who are ranked highest as per the UCI World Rankings. - Athletes will compete in South African team clothing as per the UCI requirements, but no national colours will be awarded for the 2020 UCI World Championship participation.
- All participation will be self-supported and self-financed, and athletes will be solely reliant on their UCI teams to ensure the UCI COVID-19 Risk Mitigation medical testing procedures and quarantine/isolation requirements are adhered to.
- CyclingSA strongly recommends all riders undertake their own personal risk assessment of the situation, and ensure they have support measures and plans in place should they find themselves in a changed circumstance.
Competition Dates:
24 – 27 September 2020: UCI Road World Championships | Imola, ITA Elite category only
7 – 11 October 2020: UCI Mountain Bike World Championships | Leogang, AUT All categories
24 – 25 October: UCI Marathon World Championships | Sakarya, TUR Elite category only
Photo 1 Caption: The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has granted permission to South African cyclists living abroad to participate at the UCI World Championships in Imola, Italy. Photo: Cycling SA