(Reuters) – Italian cyclist Matteo Trentin has said riders should spend less time on TikTok and be proactive in making the sport safer following claims that they were not informed of or involved in the decision to ban the ‘super tuck’ position.
Cycling’s world governing body UCI said last week that the Pro Cycling Council approved a range of safety measures for riders, including enforcing a ban on the ‘super tuck’ descending position starting from April 1.
The ‘super tuck’, a tactic of hunching over the bars while putting weight on the top tube to gain an aerodynamic advantage on descents, has become increasingly popular in recent years.
“No one this time can say that they weren’t informed,” Trentin, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, told Cycling News. “I’m sorry to say that they need to check their emails and download the new rules.
“Maybe riders should spend less time on TikTok and be more proactive when it comes to making their workplace a safer place… If someone wanted to disagree when the proposals were made, they had many chances but there was very little response.
“To tweet that they were not informed is easy but emails were sent to over 800 riders and I can tell you that only 16 riders downloaded the information.”
Trentin, who along with Philippe Gilbert was a rider representative at UCI meetings on rider safety, said riders were notified in November and December over the potential changes.
The 31-year-old, who has won eight stages across cycling’s three Grand Tours, added riders were also given the chance to download the information via messaging platform Telegram.
“I’m quite angry about what is now being said. Previously we could have said that the communication wasn’t the best and that riders weren’t informed, but this time that’s not the case. This time it was all clear,” he said.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
