WILDCARD ROULETTE
RICK DELANEY Why the wildcard team selection process needs reform
At Aqua Blue Sport we’re bitterly disappointed that we haven’t been given more wildcard slots, considering our race starts and performances last year. This is the team’s second season. I find it bizarre that in our first year, with no track record, we had invites to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of the Alps, Flèche Wallonne and the Vuelta, then in year two we get fewer invites, despite having had a pretty good first season. We went to the Vuelta last year, we won a stage, we came 12th in the team time trial and we had two top-10 finishes on stages. All riders bar one – Larry Warbasse, because he crashed – finished. At the time this magazine goes to press, we’re still waiting to find out whether we have been given a slot in the Vuelta again this year, and are hopeful that is the case, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve already missed out on places in some other major races.
The Tour de Suisse has invited us again this year which is fantastic. Gary Verity and his crew at the Tour de Yorkshire have invited us and that’s fantastic. We’ll do the Tour of Britain, we’ve got Liège, we’ve got Amstel Gold and we’ve been racing in Belgium in March, but if the Vuelta doesn’t come through that will be as good as it’s going to get for us. Our only monument remains Liège-Bastogne-Liège. because we got nothing from RCS. Alongside Liège, ASO also gave us Oman. Paris-Nice we didn’t get, Romandie, Dauphiné – we’re not getting those.
The selection process for a race invite works like this. You’re contacted by a race organiser who will ask you for a list of riders you would be prepared to send to that race. You give them the list and they confirm to you maybe two or three weeks after if you’ve been successful or not. Generally, when you’re asked for a list of riders, you’re about to get invited. There’s no points system, there’s no grading system, there’s no previous results system, there’s no popularity system. You’re at the mercy of a race organiser and nobody else.
There are a few things I’d like to see change. Wildcards are handed out so early in the season. Those teams could have an absolute sh*tstorm of a season but still be selected, or you could have a team who does extremely well but doesn’t get one. It’s got nothing to do with performance or form. Selection should be like all sports – the better you play the better you are rewarded, in terms of the high-profile races. You need to qualify to get a wildcard, in my opinion. I’m not suggesting I have the answer but at the moment there is no answer. The UCI is the governing body and is not in control of any of the races. You’ve got the UCI in one hand and race organisers in the other and there seems to be zero synergy between both.
I also firmly believe that if you’ve got a national champion then that national champion should be represented at their biggest home race. We missed out on an invite to the Tour of California but Larry Warbasse has got the stars and stripes jersey - he should be allowed to race on home turf for the year he has the jersey. I think it’s disgraceful for Larry.
The lack of high level racing is having a very negative affect on our riders. Morale is low. They’d like to be doing a grand tour again or a week-long stage race that’s WorldTour, at a high standard, and they’re not guaranteed this opportunity. But more importantly, they can’t prepare. At the start of the season, WorldTour riders find out at their training camp what their season looks like and what they need to do to prepare. Whereas we haven’t a clue.
Sport is supposed to be a fair thing, it’s supposed to be about people feeling good and people achieving and doing the impossible. I’m a year and a half into this now and it’s been a steep learning curve, but we’re going to keep fighting on.