I think we were all expecting this but it’s now been officially announced that nobody will have their licence category downgraded for next year. On top of that any future events this year will not carry ranking points.
Posted Jul 18, 2020, 9:22 AM UTC
Be interesting to see if there will be a free renewal next year, doubt it though
I really doubt it. Even without points you’ll need a licence to race so they’ll justify it with that.
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Shame as I only needed 2 points to move to 3rd!
Despite what they say, the real problem is that actual tracks and organisations have been absolutely reluctant to put on mass start races.
Around london every single crit series has been cancelled purely because even if its allowed by the rules, mass starts are not.
I know Hillingdon aren’t allowing any mass start events to be organised, the Tuesday night league is considering changing to a TT. Crit circuit TTs are a bit wank though
Definitely no interest in doing TT's on a crit circuit with no points on the line.
Also I think that it's a bit ridiculous to say no mass starts when it feels like half of racing London is now down at regents park. I've seen groups of 50+ riders in the morning. So even if officially that's the stance, it's not achieving much as unofficially plenty of mixing going on anyway.
How many people are actually defined as a mass start? I would happily travel from Wiltshire to hillingdon just to get a race.
A mass start is just multiple competitors starting at the same time.
Tbh I can’t see mass start races going ahead until social distancing is over
There's a bunch of crit races scheduled at Hillingdon on 31/8, the cat 3 race is already sold out, so maybe they've changed their minds after the BC announcement?
Also races in Preston Park and Milton Keynes Bowl which are pretty easy to get to. And I know one of the guys who organises races at Hog Hill is also looking into putting some on in August.
Those races were put online before the recent guidance so people have probably entered hoping for points.
I think that’s just big events being hopeful. If BC change their advice they have sold out fields. If they don’t organisers won’t lose out on much
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I understand the not dropping categories but it feels a bit harsh not allowing Cat4 to move up
Cat4 races are going to suck for a while lol
Well especially because now some of us are going to be able to absolutely rip the legs off genuinely new cat 4's with low fitness. I've been doing paceline work with cat 1-3 guys recently. Bring that to a cat 4 race and it will be a win for those of us who've been doing this.
To be honest that’s always been the way in 4th cat races. They ride away and get some quick wins in the 4ths and are then out of their depths when they get to the 3rds and need to have some race craft.
(Not saying that will be the case with you, but maybe it will)
Personally I would expect to really have to scrap if I was in the 3's. I'm not at all genetically gifted and I've not got enough time under the belt racing, so I can definitely see how an easy upgrade into 3 with a lack of racecraft can lead to having a really bad time.
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I think the big problem of removing ranking points is that it could lead to a lot of undersubscribed races which could lead to organisers struggling to cover costs.
On the other hand now that CTT are allowing time trials again the local mid week ones have been massively over subscribed, so maybe there will still be a desire for racing without points.
In short, I have added nothing to the discussion!
I'll still race. I suppose one positive is we won't get those mental races the last week's of November or when ever the cut off is.