Organisers of the Girona Gran Fondo today announced that disc brakes WILL be permitted in the event, which is the culmination of the week-long Girona Cycling Festival. The decision overrules an earlier press statement that disc brakes would be banned, following similar rulings by organisers of French and Spanish sportives in the wake of a ban on disc brakes by the French Cycling Federation.
In a statement issued today, the organisers of the Girona Gran Fondo said that following consultation with riders, the ban was now being reversed. Here is their statement in full:
As you know, in recent weeks we have had a lot of discussion regarding the use of road bikes equipped with disc brakes, first in the professional field and later in the cycling sportives.
Following the UCI's decision to ban the disc brakes of the professional peloton we received an email from the Spanish and Catalan Federations suggesting that we as organizers follow their example.
We sent a press release earlier this week saying that disc brakes will not be allowed but after receiving the feedback of our riders we decided to open a negotiation with the Federation as we do not believe it is fare for riders that had registered earlier this year when this rule did not exist.
As the Fondo itself is a non competitive event we have been able to agree that the use of Disc Brakes will be permitted in this year's edition of the Girona Cycling Festival
Safety is our priority and we continually review equipment that is permitted in our non-competitive cycling events.
We apologize for the confusion and hope you understand that this is an ongoing issue for us and many other race organizers and we always have the best interests of our entrants as our first priority.
We also hope that this issue is now resolved for the 2016 event.
The move is a refreshing application of common sense in a situation that is becoming increasingly ridiculous, with the UCI's announcement earlier this week that disc brakes would be reintroduced to the pro peloton next season.
The initial trial of disc brakes was abruptly halted earlier this season following a crash involving Movistar rider Fran Ventoso, although the exact cause of his injuries remains unproven.
Disc brakes are currently banned, at least technically, in a number of major French and Spanish sportives including the Etape du Tour and La Marmotte - although good luck finding any official information on the event websites!
Here's hoping the organisers of those events take a leaf from Girona's book, and allow entrants to make their own choice on whether or not to use disc brakes.
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