The 2025 Danish Time Trial Championships will be held later today (Friday), with the identity of the next men's national champion set to be revealed just hours after last year's title was finally decided.
Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Johan Price-Pejtersen was the fastest man in Herning a year ago, beating Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose by two seconds on the 41km course.
However, he was later disqualified for using the pavement in contravention of UCI regulation 2.2025, which reads, "It is strictly prohibited to use sidewalks, paths or cycle paths that do not form part of the course as defined in article 2.2.015, separated by kerbs, verges, level changes or other physical features."
Skjelmose, who had expressed "great sympathy" for "good friend" Price-Pejtersen at the time of the original ruling, was instead awarded the win. The saga didn't stop there, however.
In January, the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) handed the title back to Price-Pejtersen following protests from the 26-year-old.
His CHF200 fine and 25 UCI point penalty were kept in place. However, the former under-23 world time trial champion wouldn't keep his title for long.
A month later, the DCU announced that the UCI "had chosen to reopen the case", referring it to the UCI Disciplinary Commission. In the meantime, the status quo of the original disqualification would stand, meaning Skjelmose would race in the Danish champion's colours, doing so at Paris-Nice and Itzulia Basque Country.
This week, a final decision has been made, over a year on from the race in question.
On Thursday, the DCU announced that the UCI Disciplinary Commission had made a final decision on the disqualification, with Skjelmose being re-awarded the victory as Price-Pejtersen was disqualified once again.
"The UCI Disciplinary Commission has made a decision in the case regarding the men's time trial at the 2024 Danish Championships. The decision means that Johan Price-Pejtersen's disqualification from the race on 21 June 2024 is reinstated," announced the DCU.
"The Commission has concluded that the DCU's Disciplinary Committee did not have the authority to reverse the commissaires' panel's original decision, as national championships are held under the UCI's rules. The DCU's decision to annul the disqualification is therefore declared invalid.
"The Danish Cycling Union takes note of the UCI's decision."
DCU chairman Morten Anderson called the process "unreasonably long and frustrating for everyone involved", adding that the federation would now set up a working group to review the case and prevent a similar situation from occurring again.
"We must start by looking inward, and therefore we are now setting up a working group to review the case in its entirety and come up with concrete measures so that we can prevent similar situations in the future," Anderson said.
Price-Pejtersen has a chance to 'regain' the title he never actually won on the 41km course in Aalborg this afternoon.
Skjelmose has opted against a title defence, leaving Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), and Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as Price-Pejtsersen's main rivals for the win - so long as he remembers to avoid any pavements or bike paths along the way.
