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International Cycling Union grants neutral status to two Russian mountain bike riders

Vadim Gvozdarev and Yegor Titov are both 17 years old

MOSCOW, April 9. /TASS/. Russia’s two mountain bike riders, Vadim Gvozdarev and Yegor Titov, have been granted a neutral status that allows them to participate internationally, the International Cycling Union (UCI) stated in a document obtained by TASS on Wednesday.

Gvozdarev and Titov are both 17 years old. In June 2024, at the international competitions in Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region, Gvozdarev and Titov finished in the first and second places respectively competing in the junior cross country event.

In May 2023, the UCI announced a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international tournaments.

The UCI stated in particular, "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.".

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