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news
Tre Whyte at 2016 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester (copyright British Cycling).jpgGreat Britain set to omit national champion for BMX World Championships
Great Britain look set to head to the BMX World Championships in Medellin, Colombia without the national champion. A petition asking British Cycling to reverse its decision to omit Tre Whyte has so far attracted over 2,700 signatures.
Last month Whyte was told he would not be joining Liam Phillips and Kyle Evans for the World Championships from May 25-29 despite the fact Great Britain has four more spots available.
He was also told that he could not self-fund his attendance – an additional blow as this is precisely how he came to compete at the same event in 2014, when he finished third in Rotterdam ahead of the two British riders selected by British Cycling.
The petition was started by Whyte’s mother, Tracey Hill, who writes:
“Tre left his family and friends and moved to Manchester to dedicate his life to this sport. Today Tre received an email informing him he had not been selected and would not be going to the world championships in Columbia, this means he cannot participate at Rio 2016.
“Please help me by signing this petition and get British cycling to override the decision and take my son to the Olympics.”
The GB Cycling Programme operates a formal appeals procedure for challenging selection decisions. However, the first line of the selection criteria states that selections are made “on a discretionary basis” by the panel.
The following factors are listed as considerations.
- Race performances in comparable UCI & national BMX SX competitions in the period 1st January 2016 to 10th April 2016. The selection panel will take account of age and experience of riders, as well as quality of the field, nature of the course, consistency of results and the format of the BMX competition;
- Training performances in the period 1st January 2016 to 10th April 2016;
- UCI World Rider Ranking;
- UEC European Ranking; and
- Any other points that the selection panel deems necessary.
Whyte is currently 70th in the UCI World Rider Rankings – Great Britain’s third-ranked rider.
British Cycling has been approached for comment.
A couple of weeks ago, in the wake of Shane Sutton’s resignation, Whyte told The Guardian that senior management had created a bad atmosphere at British Cycling and said he didn’t feel like he had their support.
“I feel, walking into the building, I don’t feel that proud to pull on the GB jersey any more. When I walk into the building I don’t feel that supported by senior management. My coaches around me are really supportive and they know I want to train and get faster and are doing as much as I need – the nutritionist and the doctors and the gym coaches and physiotherapist. But not when it comes to senior management, whose vote actually counts and whose support I need the most.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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25 comments
If he's the National Champion then he has the ability to win. It's not always about power outputs and consistency - athletes have to peak for competitions to be at their best for them.
It looks like BC are being run very badly by the Management, senior or otherwise. They are funded by the public mostly, so should be answering to the public. They need to explain why athletes are not being put forward especially when there are spaces available.
Sometimes, a wildcard athlete performs better than your "Mr Consistent" in the big competitions.
We need more openess of BC going forward and more accountability of it's management.
This is disgraceful. Spare spaces, national champion, self-funding and not allowed to go. What possible reasonable justification can they give? This is mirrors almost identically a piece written by Jenny Copthall here: http://singletrackworld.com/columns/2016/04/pro-xc-racer-jenny-copnall-s... . It made me crazy mad to think athletes can dedicate themselves to their sports, with all the sacrifices that entails, and then British Cycling say "no" and send one of their own instead or no one at all!!! Something is rotten at BC.
This sounds pretty much the situation Tre and Quillan are facing too. I had wondered if BC had such a narrow approach to other cycling disciplines also and MTB in particular, and this article confirms my suspicions. Yes, something is rotten at the top of BC. Sutton was part of the problem but looking at this, so is Brailsford.
It is a real shame that all this is unravelling so publicly and so soon before the Olympics. BC needs new leadership and it needs this now. I write this as a member too.
Worked there for 6 years its full of clowns and people out for what and where they can get them selfs...... wonder how many hangers on will be there.........
Good point. It shoudl be full of tossers going on trips for 'experience' and never performing at world level. After all, that's what the World Class Performance Plan is all about, not performing at a world level!
This is certainly bringing the bitter ex-employees crawling out of the woodwork!
It does sound that way doesn't it. I'm sure that BC told him why they wouldn't let him self fund, and yet no one is talking about that.
And, most of these decisions are made in a clinical fashion because BC doesn't run on fresh air and well meaning, otherwise they'd send everyone and anyone they could. But someone has to make the adult decisions.
I can imagine that BMX has an uphill struggle because it is not as well subscribed as other cycling arenas. Once you've trashed yourself so much I doubt there are many 40-60 BMX-ers that compete, but road and mountain bike cycling you can do till you keel over. The point is that BC membership is likely to be skewed towards road and track cycling because it has longevity for its members. They will be run and successfully funded by clubs stacked with aging cyclists with money. BMX on the other hand is probably going to run a poor second or third because its membership is not as vast, organised and well-funded. BC are not set up for profit, they have limited funding and will chase easy wins. Maybe BMX needs its own organisation to push its agenda, secure funding and grow its following.
There are many BMX riders in the 40+ category in the UK and the UK's two oldest racers are aged 68 and 69. Because BMX was so big in the 80s there are a lot of older riders (males mainly) restarting so 45+ is in fact the biggest age group at the British BMX Championships every year. It is also the fastest growing category, with a 50+ group now planned as well.
Tre is able to self fund but is being blocked by BC which has not let him compete in international races to build up his points, despite the fact he has beaten many of the recognised top riders. As I commented earlier, Shanaze Reade told me she was blocked from competing in many international BMX races by BC, despite the fact she was acknowledged as being female world no1 in BMX.
BC has a record of making decisions for reasons that are somewhat obscure. The accusations being bandied about in the BMX world are that there is predjudice within BC. We've seen another non-white rider leave the BC squad recently. Just ask yourself how many non white faces are there in the BC team?
So no, no and no basically.
Definitely something rotten at the top of BC. It needs a clear out replaced with fresh thinking people who want to support British talent more than look after their own reputation.
They don't send people to these events for experience.
He is 70th ranked in the world and doesnt deserve to go to the worlds or to Rio.
Harsh I know but in reality, what's the point in him going?
they damn well should send promising youngsters to these things for experience!!!
Why? It's not a holiday camp, it's the olympic games.
Look at Triathlon, any old hubbard can buy a GB kit and a flight and 'represent' GB at the 'worlds'. That devalues those athletes who are rightly representing their country based on selection.
If he wanted to ride the Olympics, he should have qualified. Same as Jess Varnish. Didn't make the grade so didn't get selected.
Tre hasn't got as many points as he would've have, had BC not stopped him from riding at various elite competitions. In other words, BC is blocking Tre from competing because it blocked him from competing. If you've ever seen Tre competing at world class level you'd know he has the ability to compete at world class level. In reality he's easily in the top 20 of male BMX riders in the world. BC is blocking him from competing for some reason that is simply unfathomable. He has the ability and can get the support. As with Jess Varnish, BC is causing the problem here. You have to suspect why.
Absolutely. Only the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranked competitors should be invited to the Olympics. That way we can cut straight to the medal ceremony and save a lot of expensive farting about...(I mean racing).
You've either not read my posts or not understood them.
You're the sort of dick that looks at Eddie the Eagle and calls him a waste of time rather than a man who went out and tried his hardest.
Same thing is happening in MTB XC. BC are not takign the full quota of riders, and when elite level riders offer to self-fund their trip to World Champs they are blocked. The MTB plan is so bad that GB won't have any entrants in either men or womens XC at the Olympics.
the fact that he beat the 1 and 2 in the UK championships has no bearing on this? there were many years when the Williams sisters were not ranked in the top 4 in tennis, while turning up and winning the grand slam events routinely.
Because other players were entering more events to rack up ranking points, if British Cycling does not fund riders to participate routinely on the tour how can they get their ranking to the same level as those who are competing week in week out.
Of course if he won the UK champs because the tweo main players wiped each other out in a freak crash that would be different. I don't know, but I am just suggesting one reason why ranking may not be so straight forward.
Also to invest money where there is greater chance of success is one thing but to actively block riders from self funding when it would not cost BC anything, or deny other british riders a place just seems unreasonable to me.
Good luck to him. I'd like to know why he cannot pursue self funding. I can imagine some reasons, but it would be useful to know BCs reasoning. I'm sure they told him - and he doesn't seem interested in telling us.
70th in the world is not exactly a guarantee of success, so you understand that BC don't want to divert lottery funding into something that's unlikely to improve their return.
Thats Tre's ranking based only on results from races entered. He's not entered every round hence why the rank looks low. Based on current performance he's more than capable of making the final. He also self funded his way into 3rd at the 2014 Worlds.
Exactly, BC has held him back from entering more races so he's not been able to accrue the points he would have otherwise. I had a talk with Shanaze Reade last year and she filled me in on how the riders are treated by BC. At first I thought this was because BMX is regarded as having less worth than road racing but now I realise it is BC is dysfunctional. He has the talent and the skill but is being blocked. There have been suggestions within the BMX world that this may well be down to predjudice.
This is very, very disappointing.
BC has held back its BMX riders from competing in many international events because it is afraid of them being injured I assumere only has a low number of points and these do not reflect his actual standing internationally as he's in the top 20 in reality and not just ranked 70th. BMX is a very high intensity sport and injuries are very common, which is why BC seems to hold back the UK's BMX riders from many races.
But as far as I can tell, BC does not really 'get' BMX and the coaches do not fully appreciate how to stay competitive, a BMX racer needs to have regular racing at a high level. Yes, BC is very good at training riders for fitness and strength, but bMX requires track skills and snap decisions that simply aren't needed in other forms of cycling. If you've ever seen a BMX race, or better still competed in one, you might begin to appreciate what I mean.
What I deduced from what Shanaze told me was that it was easier for her to be in the women's sprint team than riding BMX for BC, which was why she opted to focus on the one and despite her outstanding talent on the small wheeled bikes.
Tre and Quillan both have the ability but are not being given their chance. I do wonder how much of the resistance within BC comes from the fact that they come from council estates in S London rather than the middle class backgrounds of many/most BC riders.
There's a really simple question which most competive cyclists would like answered.
When there are Elite spaces available for eligible British riders at the world championships, why are BCF choosing to not fill those spaces? And worse, why are they preventing eligible riders from entering? Even those willing to self fund.
Not only is this a huge kick in the teeth for those that have worked damn hard to qualify, you have to question the perverse reasoning for the apparent lack of support. BMX racing may be viewed by many as a child's sport, but let's not forget a few names who raced BMX competitively before moving on to other forms of racing and winning gold medals: Jamie Staff, Iwan Thomas, Shanaze Reade and Chris Hoy amongst others.
Rotten organisation
Not one I'll be joining.
Signed.
What the hell is going on at BC these days?!?!?