Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

British Cycling offers Lizzie Armitstead an apology over medals incident

BC confirms two medals for Armitstead promises review of regs for the nationals too

British Cycling today published the following statement regarding the incident at the Women's Elite and U23 Road Race on Saturday when she was denied her silver medal in the elite event because she had won gold in the u23 category, a decision that was later reversed.

LIZZIE ARMITSTEAD TO BE AWARDED TWO MEDALS FOLLOWING HER SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

British Cycling has over-ruled the decision of the Chief Commissaire not to award Lizzie Armitstead two medals following her success in the Women’s Elite and Under 23 National Road Championships on Saturday 27 June held in Abergavenny, Wales.

Lizzie Armitstead secured the Under 23 Championship and finished second in the Women’s Elite category but was refused the silver on the instructions of the Chief Commissaire on the basis that a rider could not be eligible for both categories.

As all National Championships are under control of the British Cycling Board, it over-ruled the decision after consulting the Commissaires Commission and the Road Commission ahead of the Men’s Elite race on Sunday 28 June.

It was agreed that the rule interpretation of the Chief Commissaire was not shared by the Board which confirmed that any rider in the Under 23 category capable of finishing in a medal position among elite riders is entitled to a medal in both categories.

The medals in the Men's Elite and Under 23 Championship were awarded on the correct basis. As a result, Peter Kennaugh was awarded both Bronze in the Elite category and Gold in the Under 23 category.

The only exceptions to this ruling were Ben Swift and Jonny Bellis, who, as members of UCI ProTour teams, are clearly excluded from the Under 23 category.

Brian Cookson, President of British Cycling, commented: “The decision of the Chief Commissaire caused considerable distress to the riders who competed in the race on Saturday and created confusion among spectators.

“We received a number of complaints on the day and acted swiftly to put the situation right and prevent the same mistake from happening in the Men’s race on Sunday.

“We will be reviewing our technical regulations governing national championships at the next Board Meeting with the view to publishing clearer guidelines for future races.

“On behalf of British Cycling I would like to apologise to Lizzie Armitstead and the other riders competing on the day for the distress caused by this incident.”

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

Add new comment

2 comments

Avatar
Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
0 likes

Wonder if he is still Chief Commissaire?

Avatar
cat1commuter | 14 years ago
0 likes

The Chief Commissaire should be de-blazered!

Latest Comments