Last week, in a bid to instil fairness for up-and-coming racers, Cycling Canada announced plans to outlaw time trial bikes in junior events.
The restriction will be applied to the National Road Championships in June, and will mean Canadian under-17s and juniors have to rely on “only one bike frame” for all racing categories – in other words, their road bike. They will also not be allowed to use extension bars or disc wheels.
Why has Cycling Canada done this? Well, they hope it will “ensure consistency, fairness, accessibility, increase participation and talent identification, and improve transport efficiency.” I, for one, am fully on board.
It’s no secret that cycling is a heavily-engineered sport, and where there’s tech, there’s a market for expensive gains. Today, a decent time trial bike can cost anywhere between £3,000 and £12,000. Add that to the outlay of a similarly priced road bike, and the sport quickly becomes a playground for those who can afford it.
I never raced bikes as a kid, I played football. My parents used to buy me top-of-the-range boots, and quality clothes to train in, but I think if I had asked instead for a £6,000 time trial bike, I’d have been told where to shove it.
This is where Cycling Canada’s wish for greater accessibility, fairness and inclusivity comes in. Teenagers should not have to engage in an arms race to compete in time trials, nor should they start a race feeling that they are at a disadvantage. Winning should not only be for the wealthy.
Of course, this is not always the case. Children of well-to-do families do tend to get a leg-up in cycling, as they do in the rest of society. To try and level the field, we see other parents stretching beyond their means.
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I remember reading a Twitter exchange late last year in which Michael Tarling, father of former European time trial champion Josh and IPT Academy rider Finlay, called out someone for saying bike racing is for people who are “posh as f*ck”.
Tarling replied: “We’ve sacrificed, scrimped, begged and borrowed to help our lads get where they are. We’ll be screwed financially for years as a result. Would do it again in a heartbeat.”
In another post, he added that the family had “remortgaged multiple times” and loaded credit cards, often relying on second and third-hand equipment. The extent the Tarlings went to to give their sons a chance is hugely commendable – but should parents really have to go through this? I worry it’s not a sustainable structure for junior racing, particularly as equipment gets more expensive.
From a talent-spotting perspective, too, banning time trial bikes makes sense. Riding at 250 watts over 25 miles, a rider on a road bike will lose almost six minutes to a rival doing the same on a time trial bike, according to an experiment by MyWindsock. So significant are the aerodynamic gains, that the two equal riders would finish tens of places apart in a event.
National squad spots are often decided on results. Likewise, teams, scouts and agents look for victories when seeking out promising riders. Is the one who wins the race generally the strongest? Perhaps. But similar talents who can’t afford the equipment are falling through the cracks. What does that teach about fairness?
I’ll admit, I’d be ignorant if I didn’t say there are other sides to this argument. With Cycling Canada’s new ruling, there is a risk that Canadian juniors will be at a disadvantage in international competitions, where their opponents will have trained and raced on time trial bikes all year. Moreover, inexperience using time trial bikes could hold them back when they graduate from the juniors. To that, I’d say that the vast majority – those who don’t go straight to pro level as teenagers – can still rely on their under-23 years to get up to speed.
There’s also the question of where we draw the line. Banning time trial bikes would be one step, but what about time trial helmets and state-of-the-art skinsuits? The British amateur scene has taught us that road bikes can be aero-optimised to such a scale that they start looking, and acting, like time trial bikes. Would the unfairness only continue? Maybe, but it certainly won’t be as stark.
The reality is there are so many entry barriers for those wanting to race bikes and make a career out of it. If banning time trial bikes removes one of them, count me in.
