Damage to the image of the sport?! The one that constantly has people cheating and being stripped of their medals? Oh yeah, wouldn't want to ruin that!
Remember when they stripped Lance of his win, and they were going to award it to the next place finisher who didn't also cheat, but they didn't have one?
They have no imagination when it comes to cheating in the Tour de France these days. Now, it's all performance enhancing drugs. But back in the good old days-
“They would trail a thin piece of wire right behind a motor car, which, at one end, had a cork fixed on to the end of it,” Cossins explains. “And the rider would wedge the cork between his teeth. And then get towed along with this thing, this wire, pulling him along.”
Finally they're treating opposite gender couples the same as same gender couples! Soon we will be able to ban love entirely for it's inapropiateness! /s
Isn't fining a person for a quick kiss a way worse look for the governing body than the actual kiss? Not that the fools running cycling would ever be able to come up with that thought on their own.
I think the fine is for stopping during a TT, which clearly shows he is not actively racing. Regardless though, he and his local cheering squad did more positive for the sport than UCI ever will accomplish
The UCI could fuck up a wet dream. They actively harm the advancement of bicycling. Whenever the UCI starts administering a race type, that whole industry sector is permafuct. Disc brakes (regardless of how one might feel about discs) were banned for many years, resulting in delay of that technology despite the demand being there. Recumbents are a superlative bicycle design for most humans, but thanks UCI ban.
One of the main reasons gravel bikes have innovated so quickly is because the UCI has yet to stick its stupid nose into the races. But they'll be along shortly to ruin the fun.
UCI takes a classic approach to racing so that the bikes don't become the story, and that's ok. Recumbents are weird, and nobody is stopping you or anyone else from creating a recumbent league. There has already been a gravel UCI WC since 2022 as well. Disc brakes weren't universally praised immediately either - it took years for the pieces the fall into place, like carbon rims, wider tires, through axles, etc. and now everyone uses them. I really fail to see the harm here over "slow" adoption. You can't please everyone.
I would love to see the restrictions on frame design removed. I want more Lotus 108s and Cervelo P5Xs
A recumbent racing league would be awesome, both fared and non-faring