October 29, 2004 – In light of the discussions and confusion surrounding the rules used to determine cyclocross categories at the National Championships in Dieppe, the CCA has consulted the relevant program committees and arrived at the following clarification:

Categories for the cyclocross nationals will be as stated in the UCI rulebook: 5.1.001 The category to which the licence-holder belongs on 1 January of the civil year following will be used for his participation in events for the whole season. This means the athlete’s category will be determined by his or her age on December 31, 2005. The CCA will not make an amendment to this rule for the 2004 Cyclocross Nationals.

Rationale: – The increased growth of cyclocross in North America in the last few seasons has raised the profile of this discipline and it has become an important development tool;

– We are seeing many more international events in the U.S. accessible to Canadian riders and we may soon see international events in Canada, and these events reflect the UCI categories;

– National titles are awarded for all age categories at the Canadian Championship, therefore being a National Champion has international ramifications (national championships are to be run under the UCI regulations and the age categories in cycling are defined by the UCI);

– The relevant rule (5.1.001) has been in the UCI and CCA rulebook since 1999;

– The rule has been applied this cyclocross season in New Brunswick and in UCI events in North America;

– The CCA must submit results to the UCI for attribution of UCI points, which means the UCI categories must be respected;

– The CCA uses the Cyclocross Nationals to determine eligibility to compete in the 2005 Cyclocross Worlds, so athletes must race in the correct category;

– The rule does not exclude anyone from competing; in fact, it opens up the junior championship to last-year cadet athletes and first-year cadets granted an upgrade;

– All categories at the Cyclocross Nationals are open to foreign riders so it is important for the categories to be consistent with other countries’.

Please note that, while this rule was applied differently in the past, this clarification will in no way affect past National Cyclocross Championships results. The CCA would like to call attention to some other UCI/CCA rules that may have a bearing on athletes attending the Cyclocross Nationals in the elite men, U23 men or women’s categories:

– Cyclocross bikes are required in the Elite men, U23 Men and Elite women’s categories (1.3.011 to 1.3.025); Junior men and Junior women must use cyclocross bikes to be eligible for the world championships;

– Disc brakes are not permitted in cyclocross (1.3.025);

– Because Elite and Junior women race together in a single category at the world championships (5.1.001), they will race together at the Cyclocross Nationals; they will be given separate classifications to award the national title but a single classification will be used to determine worlds eligibility;

– The event is open to foreign riders with the exception of athletes in the top 50 of the UCI individual cyclocross ranking (5.1.002). The CCA will release the precise wording of the criteria used to determine eligibility to participate in the 2005 Cyclocross World Championships early next week. We can announce now that, as in past years, national championships attendance is mandatory, and the criteria will be based on performance there.