Anger over Uzbek team participation ("should not have been invited") in Tour de France Femmes: who are they?

It was an awkward sight: in the Tour de France Femmes overture, four riders from the same team went down on the flat without so much pace. They were Ekaterina Knebeleva, Madina Kakhorova, Mohinabonu Elmurodova, and Asal Rizaeva, all from the Uzbek team Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team. All four riders dropped out, which raised many an eyebrow. Who are these riders? What kind of team is this? And what are they doing on the Tour? IDLProCycling provides the answers to these questions!

So, the Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team is the full name of the Uzbek formation. The team was founded in 2022 and is led by American Gleb Groysman. The team is named after Uzbekistan's capital city of Tashkent. The country has a population of over 35 million and aims to put itself on the map athletically, including within Europe. With the help of a well-run female cycling team, the country should make significant progress in this regard. Not a bad idea, you might say... What about the performance?

That implementation is well thought out. The team has read up on the UCI regulations. As in the men's peloton, the women can earn UCI points per race. By participating in many small races, the team earned point after point and thus became one of the eighteen best teams at the end of last year. The national races in Uzbekistan have also been an absolute goldmine for the team: in this year's elite road race, the team occupied almost the entire top ten! Furthermore, the team riders also participated in the other national races, such as the junior race. So, even more UCI points...

The Uzbek formation can logically count on criticism. Take Quinty Schoens, for example. She is the rider of Volker Wessels Cycling Team, a conti team that missed the Tour de France Femmes partly because of the Uzbek formation. Furious, she told her story to L1. "They picked up points in Asian races, where the level is incredibly low. They occupy the place of girls who did cycle for it.' The dropout of four riders in the first, flat stage proves to Schoens the unfair rules: 'That confirms once again that that team should not have been invited to this race at all." The Tour de France Femmes organization confirms that it was obliged to invite the Uzbek team, referring to the rules regarding UCI points.

Team boss Starchyk refuses to hear any criticism

So everyone seems to have their say, but what do the Uzbeks themselves say? Team boss Volodymyr Starchyk reacted to Cyclingnews about the controversy surrounding his team. He mainly focuses on the pride that the team from Uzbekistan is there at all. "I think it is a victory for cycling since a team that races far outside of Europe is coming here to the Tour de France Femmes." That everyone seems to have an opinion doesn't matter much to Starchyk. "Everyone can think of anything they want, but we are here, which is wonderful for the country."

The team leader is not too worried about the failure of four riders in the first stage. "It's not easy to finish when you're nineteen years old. It's certainly sad when we look at the results, but simultaneously, the Tour de France Femmes shows that cycling is open to the whole world." Of an excuse as to why the riders dropped out, Starchyk wants to know nothing. He confirms that the failure of the four riders "certainly had to do with the legs and speed."

In any case, it indeed remains a remarkable story. After the tough and rainy fourth stage, the team was further depleted: two riders dropped out on the way to Liège, meaning talent Yanina Kuskova is the team's only rider in the race. She occupies the 73rd place in the general classification, more than ten minutes behind yellow jersey Demi Vollering.