Olympic champ to miss World Champs due to sponsor conflict

Benjamin Haworth

Hopefully it'll get sorted out.

2016 Olympic gold medallist Jenny Rissveds won’t be at Cairns XC World Champs next month due to conflict with Swedish Cycling sponsor deal.

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Which sponsors are we talking about here?

Apparently Sweden’s national cycling organisation have arranged a deal with POC that all Swedish riders at the World Championships are to exclusively wear POC kit. Rissveds has existing sponsorship deals with Oakley and Scott.

This is apparently an insurmountable problem that has caused Rissveds – one of the favourites in the XC World Champs – to be removed from Swedish Cycling’s team choice.

Jenny Rissveds’ statement on Instagram

Hello, it's me. Messy times at the moment, no, actually not just at the moment. This has been an ongoing thing since February last year when my name got sold and contracts were unluckily signed above my head. I don't wanna hang out anybody or throw shit on anybody, that's not who I am. I'm the last one in this war who should excuse myself or apologize, but however I wanna apologize in advance to you who actually are innocent, but will get in trouble because of politics, people who are weak and people who are too proud to swallow their pride. Please, I beg you all out there to not throw shit at POC, UCI or anyone else who actually TRIED to solve the problem and who TRIED to help myself, my team and my Swedish riding colleagues out of this. It's not about which products are the esthetically nicest, it's not about my team making money out of this, it's not about the Swedish cycling federation in general and it's not about me. This is about so much more. Either way we are all gonna lose in the end of this story, but it's fair to say I'm the one who lost the most the last one and a half year. I feel sad, I feel used and if it wouldn't be for the people around me, who's fighting day and night for my rights, I would have been deeply worried about my future. Either you take your part, you stay natural and watch it from the outside or you don't give a shit about this whole mess. But what's the most important for me to know is that all the people who brought me all the way here will bring me even further and I know that they will always keep my back, no matter what. I'm sure the each of you who had the time to read all the way down here also know who's having my back and who's not having my back in this conflict. Peace. @scottmtbracing @bikeonscott @oakleybike @uci_cycling @pocsports @swecycling

A post shared by Jenny Rissveds (@jennyrissveds) on

Jenny Rissveds: “Hello, it’s me. Messy times at the moment, no, actually not just at the moment. This has been an ongoing thing since February last year when my name got sold and contracts were unluckily signed above my head. I don’t wanna hang out anybody or throw shit on anybody, that’s not who I am. I’m the last one in this war who should excuse myself or apologize, but however I wanna apologize in advance to you who actually are innocent, but will get in trouble because of politics, people who are weak and people who are too proud to swallow their pride. Please, I beg you all out there to not throw shit at POC, UCI or anyone else who actually TRIED to solve the problem and who TRIED to help myself, my team and my Swedish riding colleagues out of this. It’s not about which products are the esthetically nicest, it’s not about my team making money out of this, it’s not about the Swedish cycling federation in general and it’s not about me. This is about so much more. Either way we are all gonna lose in the end of this story, but it’s fair to say I’m the one who lost the most the last one and a half year. I feel sad, I feel used and if it wouldn’t be for the people around me, who’s fighting day and night for my rights, I would have been deeply worried about my future. Either you take your part, you stay natural and watch it from the outside or you don’t give a shit about this whole mess. But what’s the most important for me to know is that all the people who brought me all the way here will bring me even further and I know that they will always keep my back, no matter what. I’m sure the each of you who had the time to read all the way down here also know who’s having my back and who’s not having my back in this conflict.
Peace.”

Any solution?

For what it’s worth, in a recent statement ‘POC position on Swedish athlete, Jenny Rissveds, not attending the World Championships in Cairns, Australia‘, POC appear to be open to adapting things for individual riders. Scott and Oakley aren’t saying much via their official channels yet.

Swedish Cycling’s POC deal is not actually anything new. It was begun at the start of 2017. And there have been exemptions and instances of POC waiving their exclusivity and Scott compromising as well; Rissveds wore a POC helmet at the European Champs for example.

Perhaps the main issue here is the lack of clear rules and leadership from the UCI. Not having Rissveds at the World Championship will render the XC women’s race result a bit tainted.