Tour de l'Avenir Rule Change

I have ranted about this on Twitter already but in case you missed it, I would like to bring to you the lovely rule change that has happened with the Tour de l'Avenir. For this year (and I'm assuming going forward), World Tour riders that are under the age of 23 are able to ride in the Tour de l'Avenr with their national teams. This news came with the announcement of the Colombian team for l'Avenir which is featuring Sebastian Henao of Team SKY, who has ridden the past two Giri dl'Italia and finished 3rd in this year's Tour de Langkawi.

Espoirs Central's opinion on this matter are strong and blunt. This rule change is bullshit. I want names at the UCI of who was responsible for this because I will send them a letter to ask what the fuck they were thinking. If a rider is a U23 and goes to the World Tour, they sacrifice their spots for any U23 events. They are out of the development stage. If you think you can ride at the level, you should be riding at the level and not hawking spots from riders that would benefit from an opportunity such as the Tour de l'Avenir.

I had an issue with Pro Continental riders such as Louis Meintjes being able to ride in the U23 Worlds just because once you are on that level, you are a full blown professional. Should Australia bring Caleb Ewan back for a reunion tour? Or should Denmark bring back Magnus Cort to cherry pick a stage or two? No. Fuck no.

Here is the link to an article on the subject. There might be more found later on this subject.

The UCI rule that is in question is rule number 2.14.018, which states: "The road racing nations cup is reserved for men from 19 to 22 years, comprising the riders being part of a UCI WorldTeam."