Valentina Scandolara suspended and fined for unsportsmanlike behavior

Valentina Scandolara is cheered on by her Denver Disruptors teammates

(Image credit: Denver Disruptors)

published 25 August 2023

The National Cycling League has penalized former WorldTour rider Valentina Scandolara for unsportsmanlike conduct in the last race of the season, the NCL Cup Atlanta.

Tensions between the Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors NCL teams had been building at the season finale as the series title and the significant prize purse that accompanied the win was still up for grabs. At the end of the women’s race the two teams came to a head and yelling and physical shoving occurred.

"I also wanted to use this post to clarify some things that happened during and after the race and were - unfortunately- only partially televised on GCN.
I was deliberately shoved out from my train towards the barriers at high speed before the last corner, that was a very dangerous move.

My reaction after the line wasn’t pretty, but I was genuinely worried and stressed for my safety that has been [jeopardised] several times during the race. In the heat of the moment, I went to the responsible rider and let all my frustration out.

This is not normally in my character, I’ve never done something like this in my long career and I think that this by itself is an indication that some lines have been crossed.

I apologise to my team and to the spectators, that’s never nice to see, but after seeing Daniely Garcia on Saturday for the first time after her terrible, life threatening crash just a few months ago, and having heartedly donated (along with many other @ncldisruptorscc riders and staff) towards her care and therapy through the gofundme page her own teammates created, I was expecting a very different behaviour in races, especially on her birthday.

So again, I apologise to all for my out of character reaction, but I stand by my motivations and don’t condone some dangerous and pointless behaviours in bike racing, a sport that is already dangerous enough."

Aiming to reignite cycling fandom in the United States by reinventing what American bike racing looks like, the National Cycling League is an invite-only, co-ed bike racing series that takes place in the heart of America's biggest cities, puts fans first and throws around a lot of money. The races themselves feature a unique format intended to make bike racing more exciting. The series made its debut in Miami Beach, Florida in April and ended in Atlanta, Georgia on August 20, 2023. The series was dominated by its own, NCL-founded teams, the Miami Nights and the Denver Disruptors. The Nights, winners of the series overall title, was led by longtime Continental and domestic pros Johnny Clarke, Frank Travieso and latin American Olympians Daniely Garcia and Paola Munoz Grandon. Scandolara belongs to the second NCL team, the Denver Disruptors, which fielded a talented roster of eight men and eight women, led by Colombian Paris-Nice Champion Sergio Henao and two-time Canadian Olympian and World Champion Leah Kirchmann.

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Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.

Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.

Valentina Scandolara suspended and fined for unsportsmanlike behavior

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