From Individuals to Teams: AIN's Immediate Impact at the Junior Worlds

Russian riders had been competing internationally as Individual Neutral Athletes for several seasons. Zolder was different. For the first time under revised UCI rules they could race together in team events - and at the first Junior World Championships under those rules, they won both team sprint titles and set a world record.

For several seasons, the distinction was relatively straightforward. Russian riders who satisfied the UCI's neutrality requirements could return to international cycling, but they competed as individuals rather than as representatives of a Russian national team.

The clue was in the name: Individual Neutral Athlete.

The route to Zolder had developed in stages. Russian and Belarusian national teams were excluded from UCI competition following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Belarus's support for it. Individual riders were subsequently given a route back into international competition under AIN status.

Then the position changed again in June 2026.

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