The Level 1 (introduction) mechanics course is delivered both at the UCI WCC in Aigle, Switzerland, and in other countries on the request of National Federations, Continental Confederations or UCI WCC Development Satellites. This year, 87 mechanics attended courses organised in Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Korea.
Meanwhile 10 courses for Level 1, Level 2 (development) and Level 3 (advanced) have been held at the UCI WCC in 2022. The latest – Level 3 - finishes this week. Forty individuals from 22 countries have completed at least one of the Levels in Aigle in the last 12 months.
The UCI WCC’s offer will be extended from the end of the first quarter of 2023 with the introduction of online courses for Level 1 available to National Federations, Continental Confederations and UCI WCC Development Satellites.
UCI WCC Director Jacques Landry explains: “Our courses are intended for any mechanic who wants to develop their skills, and to extend their expertise to eventually start working in professional cycling teams, National Federations, and even bike shops. So the courses span from beginner to very much expert high level mechanics.”
Irishman Dominic Price has gone through all three levels of the training programme. Increasingly drawn to the possibility of working with bikes, the historian and author completed Levels 1 and 2 at the UCI WCC in 2021. This week, he finishes Level 3.
“In 2021 I was disappointed that I hadn’t booked the Level 3, but I think the break was good. I needed to get more experience and allow what I had learned (in the first two levels) to percolate.”
In the latest course (21 November – 3 December) he has been able to benefit from the Shimano-TEC platform videos which have been an integral part of the UCI WCC’s mechanics’ training programme since the beginning of this year.
“The videos have been really helpful and have reinforced what our instructor is doing,” says Price, pleased that he will continue to have access to the online tutorials once he is back home. “If you want to be a good mechanic you have to train, train, train,” he says. “You get frustrated and disappointed when you make mistakes, but it also exposes your errors and where you need to improve.”
Still in contact with the mechanics who were on the same course as him a year ago, he has extended his network of fellow mechanics in the last two weeks, while also meeting other people working at or connected to the Union Cycliste Internationale.
“The UCI is a melting pot of cultures, with people coming together for the joy of cycling. It’s very special,” he says.
Information on the 2023 UCI WCC mechanics training programme can be found on the UCI website.