Updated: Covid19 & British Cycling

British Cycling has submitted its action plan to Government for a safe return of cycle sport events in England, which it hopes will enable a phased return to racing from August

Updated: Covid19 & British Cycling

British Cycling has submitted its action plan to Government for a safe return of cycle sport events in England, which it hopes will enable a phased return to racing from August 1st after a four-month absence. The national governing body has also provided an update on its plans to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19.

The proposed action plan would pave the way for a return of all disciplines apart from road racing and provide event organisers with the framework and tools they need to deliver events in a Covid-secure manner. The return of road racing will be reviewed again in August along with sportives and other non-competitive events which use the public highway, however it is not yet possible to resume them safely under the current guidelines.

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National governing bodies were asked to submit their action plans after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published their own frameworks for a return of outdoor events and team sports in England on Friday 10 July. The plan submitted by British Cycling – which will be shared publicly next week – provides clarity for event organisers on matters including: running events safely in a Covid-secure manner; hygiene protocols; compliance with test and trace procedures; and a range of discipline-specific mitigations.

While each event will require different adaptations depending on its own circumstances, the plan also suggests suitable alternatives to existing race formats.

Approval of the plan would move British Cycling to Stage Four of its six-stage plan to resume all cycling activities, as first set out in ‘The Way Forward: Planning a safe return to sanctioned cycling activity and facility use’ in June, and it will be continually updated to reflect future changes in Government guidance. There is currently no set date for progression to Stage Five, which will permit a return of all competitive and non-competitive event formats and wider indoor facility access, though a further positive update on our guidance for coaches is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Ranking points and categories
Following internal and external consultation, British Cycling can also confirm today that events across all disciplines will be designated as non-ranking for the remainder of 2020, or until further notice.

Given that riders will not be able to claim ranking points, no rider will be moved down a licence category at the end of the year, while those who collected sufficient points to move up a category prior to the suspension of racing in March will be able to retain that higher category. It is hoped that the opportunity to race new formats across a variety of disciplines will encourage many new riders to come and get involved.

Mitigating the financial impact of Covid-19
British Cycling can also today announce that it is beginning a collective consultation process with staff with a view to making around 38 roles redundant. Seven of those are currently vacant, which means that in total 31 staff could be affected. We will also be consulting individually with all staff placed at risk of redundancy.