The UCI's decision to suspend all Russian and Belarusian teams after Russia invaded Ukraine had an immediate impact, with the Gazprom-Rusvelo team not starting the Trofeo Liguria race in Italy on Wednesday morning.
The Russian professional team was listed on the official start list for Tuesday, but did not compete in the Italian one-day race. The team selected Russian riders Sergey Chernetsky and Nikolay Cherkasov, Italian riders Giovanni Carboni, Nicola Consi, and Alessandro Fedeli, Czech rider Michal Kukule, and Matthias Vacek, who won a stage at last week's UAE Tour. selected.
Gazprom-Rusvelo, sponsored by Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom, has yet to announce its reaction to the ban or its future plans. However, the team's bike and wheel suppliers, Look and Colima, have already withdrawn their support for the team.
It is unclear whether the players will try to find a place on another team in the future. Vacek has already been assigned to a World Tour team for 2023, and Gazprom Rusvelo team leader Ilnur Zakarin is arguably the best chance of finding a new team, but he has already indicated that he will retire at the end of 2022.
Under UCI sanctions, Russian athletes from non-Russian teams are allowed to race. However, the ban on the national emblem, flag, and anthem means that Russian time trial champion Alexander Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) cannot wear the national champion jersey. Athletes with more than one nationality may apply to change their sporting nationality.
Before the start of the Trofeo Laigueglia, a minute's silence was observed in honor of the war victims.
"We are convinced that sport must always carry the message of peace and that athletes do not have to suffer passively in competition just because they come from one geographical location or another," Raiglia Mayor Roberto Sasso del Verme In a statement, Roberto Sasso del Verme, the mayor of Laiglia, said.
The Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli team wore a special replica version of Andrii Ponomar's Ukrainian national champion jersey as they signed in front of Trofeo Laigueglia.
Although Ponomar will not be competing in the Trofeo Laigueglia, the team wanted to show their support for the Ukrainian rider. Ponomar is training in Italy, but his father is fighting on the front lines for Ukraine, forcing the family to take refuge in a bunker near their home north of Kiev.
"We expressed all our solidarity with Andrei Ponomar and his people. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is shameful.
"We hope that this absurd war will end as soon as possible and that the people of Ukraine can return to a peaceful and free life.
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