Remarkable Tour de France Femmes team disbanded: "It's a disgrace"

One of the standout teams in the recent edition of the Tour de France Femmes was the Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team. The Uzbek team saw four riders abandon during the first stage. In the end, out of their seven riders, only Yanina Kuskova completed the Tour. According to Kuskova, the team no longer exists today.

Due to the team's moderate level, to say the least, it was surprising that they were allowed to participate in the women's Tour de France. However, the team had accumulated many UCI points in the Asian circuit, which made them eligible for the Tour de France Femmes. The skill level of four of the selected riders was so low that they couldn't even finish the first flat stage. The presence of the Uzbek team also sparked a lot of anger among other teams in the Tour.

After the Tour debacle, Tashkent City disappeared from the racing scene. According to Kuskova – who was the only rider to finish the Tour, ending in 47th place – the team has now been disbanded. "My last race was August 18th. Since then, my team and I have been at home in Uzbekistan," she shared on her Instagram. "We didn't take part in other European races because our team broke up."

For Kuskova, it’s a tough pill to swallow. As a result, she has been unable to race in preparation for the World Championships in Zurich (road race, September 28). To make matters worse, the national federation also didn’t exactly book the best flight tickets for the trip to Switzerland, which could prevent her from participating in the World Championships altogether. "I kept training because I hoped to go to the World Championships. My country promised to pay for the trip. But in the end, they booked tickets that will get me there less than 24 hours before the start. Of course, I'll be exhausted after the flight, but they don’t care. I told them that under these conditions, I wouldn’t go, but it doesn’t matter to them," Kuskova criticized the Uzbek cycling federation.

Multiple reasons for disbanding the Uzbek team

"It's such a shame that in Uzbekistan, they don’t understand the value of cycling and athletes. It’s a disgrace. Our team existed for three years, we had a great time, and now it’s over," Kuskova concluded. According to Global Cycling, there are several reasons why the plug was pulled on the team: first, the Olympic Games are over, so there's no need for a team to help riders qualify. Additionally, Uzbekistan lacks the infrastructure for cycling, and finally, corruption is also said to have played a role.