Cyclingnews has learned that the CPA (Cyclistes Professionels Associés) has submitted proposed rule changes regarding the Transition Fund, including a scoring system that will determine the amount of money a rider can receive after retirement.

In a document leaked to Cycling News, the CPA riders' association also laid out plans to ensure that riders who retire in 2019 will have to wait until the spring of 2022 before they may receive the full amount of the retirement fund. According to the document, which has not yet been shared with all 2019 retired riders, the CPA claims that these changes were implemented as "extraordinary measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Fund."

As Cyclingnews reported earlier this week, the 69 riders who retired after the 2019 season and successfully applied for the fund were supposed to receive €12,500 this year, but so far only €3,000 has been paid, and the CPA blames this situation on the COVID- 19 epidemic, which the CPA blames for the situation. The retired players were notified in June that they would only receive 3,000 euros, and since then there has been no update regarding the outstanding payments.

A transition fund was created by the UCI in 2001 to help athletes transitioning from the world of professional cycling to other careers; the UCI initially managed this fund itself, but in 2012 it transferred responsibility to the CPA. The fund derives its income from a 5% levy on race winnings.

One of the key problems with the fund is that it relies on the assumption that race organizers will be generous with their prize money. This dates back to the days when the UCI administered the Fund, when bad debts were initially underwritten by the UCI for the first five years of the Fund. In recent years, the UCI has worked with the CPA to rectify this problem and recover all monies owed by race organizers. However, the CPA cites the globalization of the sport as one reason why new races are less reliable in transferring prize money to the Fund; the CPA also states that in some cases prize money is paid directly to riders rather than to the Fund.

A second problem with funds is structure. For example, a rider who retires in 2019 will not be paid from the Fund's accounts collected during that rider's career, but instead will have to rely on race winnings collected after retirement. Finally, since the Fund's "ideal" number of retirees is between 45 and 50 per year, if the CPA accepts more than the ideal number of applicants, it will struggle to pay riders.

Having 69 riders apply at the end of 2019 is a big problem, and with many teams disbanding in 2020, both World Tour and Pro Continental, it is not impossible that the CPA will be flooded with more applications than ever.

The proposed changes in the leaked CPA document concern applicants applying for both 2020 and 2022, which will be reviewed by the CPA's steering committee after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled races and ruined the season.

The steering committee is Gianni Buño, the current president of the CPA, and the presidents of the ACP, ACCPI, and UNCP in their respective countries, Jose de Santos (Spain), Christian Salvato (Italy), Pascal Chanture (France), Paulo Couto (Portugal), David Chaso (Switzerland).

Under the new guidelines, riders will be evaluated based on the number of years they have raced at either the World Tour or Professional Continental level.

Under the new framework, points are awarded for each year spent at either the WorldTour or Professional Continental level, with 8.34 points awarded for one WorldTour season and 1.66 points for a Professional Continental season. The CPA does not provide any information in the document as to how it arrived at this point tally, but it is likely based on the minimum prize money mandated by the UCI at the World Tour and Pro Continental levels.

Riders would then be eligible to receive a grant based on their share of the total points earned by all applicants to the Fund.

The document states: "Each applicant will have a contribution factor based on his/her share of the total points, as specified in Section 2.1. Depending on the funds available and after determining the minimum payment, the CPA Steering Committee will use the contribution factor to award the rider a fixed amount and an amount proportional to that factor."

The document makes no mention of whether retired riders are entitled to the €12,500, adding that the CPA "it is understood that the CPA Governing Committee will determine the amount of payment in advance, according to available funds and in accordance with established distribution criteria."

and that "the CPA Governing Board shall determine the amount of payment in advance according to available funds and in accordance with established distribution criteria.

And the document includes a timetable of payments: for riders retiring in 2019, the first payment made in June 2020 will be followed by a second payment in March 2021, and third and fourth payments in October 2021 and March 2022 The third and fourth payments are to be made in October 2021 and March 2022, respectively. Again, the CPA has not indicated a fixed amount for any of the payments.

For athletes who retire at the end of 2020 and successfully apply for funding, the four payments would be staggered from April 2021, when the first payment is made, with the second and third payments made in October 2021 and March 2022.

Cyclingnews has asked the UCI for comment on the proposed new rules, but has not yet received a response.

At this time it is unclear whether the UCI will intervene to make up any shortfall in prize money incurred to allow retirees from 2019 to claim their full retirement fund entitlement.

The UCI might also consider taking steps to ensure that 2020 retired riders are adequately compensated. In short, as stated in the CPA's possible proposal, the UCI would increase the tax on race organizers to accommodate the increased demands placed on the fund.

Cycling News posed this question to the UCI but has not received a response.