After his return from the Track Cycling World Championships, the three-time Madison world champion Roger Kluge reacted with unusually clear criticism to the loss of third place in Santiago de Chile, which was believed to be safe. “The misconduct of the UCI commissioners clearly influenced and distorted the race. This is simply unacceptable and cannot go unchallenged at a world championship,” the 39-year-old wrote on Instagram.
The three-time world champion and his new partner Moritz Augenstein had already been announced as third in the two-man team race after the race before the race commissioners had to revise their result. Those responsible had calculated incorrectly, which meant that the wrong points were displayed throughout the race.
Kluge: “It’s hard to believe”
“If we, athletes or staff, make mistakes, we face penalties or even disqualifications. We cannot simply say: We are sorry, please accept my apology,” Kluge wrote. “But the UCI is allowed to do that and is depriving us athletes and the associations of a result in an Olympic discipline that would have helped both the individual and the association to future progress. It is hard to believe that such a serious mistake should be eliminated with an apology,” Kluge continued.
The 2008 Olympic silver medalist will continue his season on Friday and start the “3Days” in London together with the Briton Ben Wiggins.