Vaughters blasts UCI after Romandie Féminin GPS row - 'It is a lack of respect'

“This is a bit of a case of ‘hey guys, can you ask us first about what might be a good place to start before just imposing this upon us?,’” he said. “‘And could you allow us to have a little bit more of a voice in what are the real core problems with safety in the sport?’”

According to Vaughters the teams did not actually refuse the devices but rejected the way the system was imposed. “So then it comes down to this. We didn’t actually refuse. We didn’t refuse these devices. To be really clear, not one of these teams refused the devices. What we said is, is, ‘this is your idea. This is not our idea. This is your mandate. This is not our collaborative effort. So if you want to do the devices, you got to choose which rider you’re going to put it on, and you got to tell us, and you got to put it on the bike.’”

When the UCI insisted otherwise, five teams were barred from starting. “It’s a line in the sand. I don’t love that this is like the line in the sand that it had to be,” Vaughters told Velo. “I don’t love that. I would have rather seen our girls race. In fact, I think we could have won this race, quite frankly. I’m bummed and I’m really upset for riders like Noemi Rüegg, who’s former Swiss champion, who really wanted to win this race, who was super motivated by it, who the organization was super happy that she was there. It’s a real pity. I didn’t want her to be disqualified.”

The decision, delivered minutes before the start, left him stunned. “This is one of those ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ moments. Personally, up until like 10 minutes before the start, I’m like, ‘no, they’re not going to prevent you from starting. This is ridiculous.’ I honestly just didn’t believe that. I was like, ‘no, they’ll just choose one of the riders and put it on the bike.’ And they didn’t.”

For Vaughters the standoff in Switzerland reflects deeper problems. “This is about long-standing tension between the UCI and what I’ll call teams that feel a little bit more strongly about their rights and more strongly about their entrepreneurial possibilities in the world,” he explained. “In about the last year, there are a certain group of teams that haven’t felt like we’ve been really strongly represented in the legislation of the UCI. That’s unfortunate, and we’ll probably need to try to make some changes there in who and what our representation is.”

He also sees a wider debate about data and commercial rights. The UCI has indicated that GPS trackers will be implemented more broadly in the coming seasons, while Velon, the teams’ own platform, has already tested similar technology at the Tour de Suisse. “Well, I mean it very well could,” Vaughters said when asked if the UCI’s system overlaps with Velon. 

“And then you get into a whole different thing where it’s like, well, is this another one of the entrepreneurial rights of the teams being stripped away? Or the better way to put it, is the UCI trying to commercialise tracking for its own financial benefit? I don’t know whether the UCI is trying to commercialise tracking for its own benefit. Obviously, right now the PR shtick is that it’s for safety only. What the long term aims of it are, only they are going to be able to tell you that. I don’t know that.”

Despite the questions about data and money, Vaughters insisted the central issue in Romandie was respect. “It is a lack of respect,” he said. “This is not a protest. This is not a rebellion. This is just like, ‘well, it’s your idea. It’s your mandate. We don’t agree with it, but you’re the boss, so put it on the bikes.’ And that was refused.”