Kristen Faulkner was a beast in this year’s Strade Bianche. In an epic solo breakaway, Faulkner led the race until almost the very end, when the two-woman SD Worx machine known as Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky overtook her on the last climb into Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy less than two weeks ago.
We could see Faulkner cracking on that climb. Depending on who you ask, she either started paperboying it or made one last ditch effort to play defense by blocking Vollering’s path.
When Faulkner crossed the line, battered and literally bleeding from an earlier crash, no one thought that her podium spot was undeserved.
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Until the UCI became aware of something else we all saw, that is.
Why was Kristen Faulkner DQ’d?
Anyone watching the race would have noticed the circular protrusion on Faulkner's upper arm, clearly visible under her jersey sleeve. And anyone who’s even seen a TV commercial for the device would be able to recognize how much the disc-shaped object resembles a Supersapiens “energy management system,” which is marketing-speak for a continuous glucose monitor.
And according to the UCI rules, wearing one during a race is a big no-no.
“The UCI has been made aware that Kristen Faulkner appears to have been wearing a continuous blood glucose monitor during the Italian UCI Women’s WorldTour event Strade Bianche,” a UCI spokesperson announced earlier this week according to Cycling Weekly.
While continuous glucose monitors are becoming increasingly popular among professional and amateur athletes alike, the UCI currently has a ban on using them during competition.
Why? Because even though GCM’s were initially developed for the diabetic population to monitor blood sugar, athletes use them to dial in exactly when they need to fuel. During a competition, that kind of information could prove to be a competitive advantage.
Faulkner’s team, Jayco-Alula, released the following statement as an Instagram story: “Team Jayco-Alula has been notified by the UCI that Kristen Faulkner's third place result at the UCI Women's WorldTour even Strade Bianche on 4th March 2023 has been disqualified. Team Jayco-Alula acknowledges and accepts the decison in light of article 1.3.006bis of the UCI Regulations. The team and the rider take full responsibility for this situation and apologize for this unfortunate outcome.”
The UCI will not be levying further punishments or fines in this instance; losing a podium spot during a career-highlight of a race was deemed bad enough.
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Natascha Grief got her first bike shop job before she was old enough to drink. After a six-year stint as a mechanic, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanics license, she became obsessed with framebuilding and decided she wanted to do that next. After Albert Eistentraut literally shooed her off his doorstep, admonishing that if she pursued framebuilding she will be poor forever, she landed an apprenticeship with framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, CA. After that, she spent several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. Somewhere in there she also became a certified bike fitter. Natascha then became a certified personal trainer and spent nine years honing her skills as a trainer and coach, while also teaching Spin. During the dumpster fire that was the year 2020, she opened a fitness studio and began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer. In 2022, she joined the staff of Bicycling as News Editor.
