Just when cycling thought it had moved past its darkest chapters, the sport’s governing body is under fire once more. Team Visma | Lease a Bike has erupted in outrage following what it describes as a “shocking display of incompetence” by the UCI during the opening stage of La Vuelta Femenina. The debacle has not only cost the team crucial seconds but reignited long-standing doubts about the UCI’s credibility—a shadow not unfamiliar to those who remember the Lance Armstrong era.
During the team time trial, Visma arrived 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled bike check. Yet, two riders failed to start on time due to what the team claims was a sluggish and disorganized jury. Despite multiple pleas for urgency, officials reportedly delayed proceedings, resulting in a botched, incomplete start. The immediate fallout? A major blow to Visma’s General Classification (GC) hopes and a public relations disaster for the UCI.
“This is not a small mistake,” a Visma spokesperson said. “This is systemic failure. It’s hard not to compare this chaos to the kind of blind-eye mismanagement that plagued the UCI during the Armstrong years.”
Indeed, for many, this latest scandal is not just about a procedural error—it’s about trust. In the aftermath of the Armstrong doping saga, the UCI vowed to overhaul its governance and restore integrity to the sport. But with incidents like this, critics are asking whether anything has really changed behind cycling’s polished facade.
The team wasted no time filing a formal complaint with the UCI jury. They argue that the race’s credibility has been compromised, not just for them, but for every rider competing. Fans and commentators quickly picked up the story, flooding social media with hashtags like #JusticeForVisma and #UCIFail, drawing comparisons to previous governance failures.
Uno-X, another team caught in the crossfire, backed Visma’s claims, stating the jury had admitted to errors but did nothing to rectify the situation. “It’s one thing to say ‘we made a mistake,’” a Uno-X representative said. “It’s another to let teams suffer the consequences without action.”
The backlash is growing louder by the hour. Former pros, including some who were vocal critics of UCI during the Armstrong era, have weighed in. “It’s déjà vu,” one said. “Different problem, same result—riders are the ones paying the price for bad leadership.”
As questions mount, the UCI has yet to issue a public statement. Their silence has only fueled suspicions of mismanagement and lack of accountability, reminiscent of the organization’s failure to confront doping allegations until the evidence was too overwhelming to ignore.
With the race ongoing and the stakes higher than ever, this latest controversy is more than a bump in the road—it’s a potential turning point. Will the UCI take meaningful steps to address the issue and regain the trust of the peloton? Or will cycling’s governing body once again try to pedal past its problems?
For now, Visma’s message is clear: enough is enough. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that unresolved cracks in the foundation of sport don’t disappear—they eventually collapse.