Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 9:13 AM
Michael Rogers leaves the UCI. The Australian ex-cyclist confirmed this The newspapaer. Rogers held the position of innovation manager at the international cycling association. The news came out on the day that there was a lot of fuss about the so-called ‘helmet sock’, an innovation that has been banned by the UCI.
Michael Rogers started working at the UCI at the end of 2020. As an innovation manager, the former professional was involved in technological developments, such as the data of cyclists during competitions, (new) technology for cycling events and the development of virtual cycling.
‘Helmet sock’
At the end of March, after just over three years of employment, Rogers resigned from his duties at the UCI. This happened at a time when there was a lot going on in the field of technology and innovation. For example, on Monday there was still a lot of fuss about Specialized’s so-called ‘helmet sock’.
On March 5, when Rogers was still innovation manager, the UCI announced that the sock would be banned from April 1. But BORA-hansgrohe still rode it in the time trial of the Tour of the Basque Country, because the UCI site states that the ban will not take effect until April 2. Remco Evenepoel was not happy with this communication. The leader of Soudal Quick-Step and his teammates rode without a helmet sock, because they assumed that this would be prohibited from April 1.
Time trial specialist
It is not known why Rogers left the UCI and whether it had to do with a disagreement about the regulations surrounding time trial helmets. It is striking that before he started working at the UCI, Rogers worked at the then NTT Pro Cycling as responsible for time trial equipment and time trial testing. Because the Australian no longer works for the International Cycling Union, he wanted to join The newspapaer do not comment on the discussion about the ‘helmet sock’.
Rogers – who competed as a rider for successful teams such as QuickStep, HTC, Sky and Tinkoff – became world time trial champion three times during his rich career. The Australian won the gold medal in Hamilton, Verona and Madrid in 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. Rogers was also seen as a promising classification rider. In 2016 he had to hang up his bike due to heart problems.
