MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/. Over the past 11-month period the International Cycling Union (UCI) has decided to grant a neutral status participation in international tournaments to 79 athletes, including 52 cyclists from Russia, according to UCI documents obtained by TASS on Friday.

As of May 3, the neutral status had been granted to Russia’s Gleb Syritsa, Alexey Medvedev, Daria Yermolova, Tamara Dronova, Alyona Ivanchenko, Daniil Kazakov, Vlas Shichkin, Daria Dyatlova, Sergey Malnev, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Ilya Savekin, Ilya Shchegolkov, Ivan Smirnov, Daniil Zarakovsky, Ivan Seledkov, Mark Kryuchkov, Yegor Igoshev, Ruslan Kuznetsov, Valeria Valgonen, Vladimir Goncharov, Ivan Maikin, Grigory Skornyakov, Pyotr Vinokurov, Yekaterina Yevlanova, Nikita Kiriltsev, Ivan Samusev, Nikita Bykovsky, Tatiana Malkova, Diana Smirnova, Mikhail Postarnak, Yelizaveta Solozobova, Daria Malkova, Pyotr Sapronov, Alexander Grigoryev, Nikita Kalachnik, Alina Lysenko, Yana Burlakova, Sergey Rostovtsev, Maria Rostovtseva, Sofia Balayeva, Inna Abaidullina, Maria Averina, Ivan Novolodsky, Alexander Dubchenko, Yaroslav Shvedov, Yekaterina Kovalchuk, Alexandra Andrianova, Yaroslav Prosandeyev, Anton Sintsov, Polina Vashchenko, Aglaya Kokareva and Alexander Vlasov.

Last month, the UCI refused to grant the neutral-status participation to four Russian cycling racers, namely Alexey Obydennov, Anastasiya Voinova, Maria Novolodskaya and Danila Burlakov. This ban will be in force as long as the organization's special rules for Russia and Belarus are in force.

UCI’s press office announced in May 2023 a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international tournaments.

The UCI stated in particular in its statement early last year to "authorize, under strict conditions, the participation of athletes of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality in events on the UCI International Calendar, including UCI World Cup and UCI Nations Cup events and UCI World Championships, as ‘neutral individual athletes,’ without them having any involvement or association with the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, their National Federation or National Olympic Committee."