{"id":1749787,"date":"2026-02-04T04:47:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1749787"},"modified":"2026-02-04T04:47:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:47:53","slug":"the-uci-is-coming-for-the-trolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1749787","title":{"rendered":"The UCI Is Coming for the Trolls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Updated February 4, 2026 07:29AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Online haters, be warned. The UCI is looking for you.<\/p>\n

Cycling\u2019s governing body has rolled out a new system to clamp down on online trolls who abuse or threaten riders.<\/p>\n

In 2026, the UCI will use an A.I.-driven platform that can trawl riders\u2019 social media accounts and inboxes for sensitive keywords and emojis before escalating them for further moderation.<\/p>\n

Under the scheme, the most vicious trolls could be reported to law authorities.<\/p>\n

The UCI confirmed its new cyber policing policy last week in an update that also assessed the controversial yellow card system and outlined plans to investigate rider airbags.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnline communication comes with certain risks that the UCI will not tolerate when it comes to the wellbeing of riders, their entourage, and cycling\u2019s stakeholders,\u201d said UCI director general Amina Lanaya.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this, we are sending out a clear message that nobody will get away with this sort of harassment in our sport,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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From throwing chips to posting hate<\/h2>\n
\"Stupidest
Mathieu van der Poel was targeted by a bottle-tossing spectator as he soloed to the win last year at Paris-Roubaix.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s an intriguing and necessary move by the governing body.<\/p>\n

Rider abuse has extended far beyond idiots throwing chips, beer and god knows what else<\/em>\u00a0at superstar riders while standing at muddy roadsides.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s smartphone era, haters can express their \u201cviews\u201d by trolling Strava and Instagram accounts from the comfort of their couch.<\/p>\n

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Last year, Bryan Coquard\u2019s inbox exploded with so much abuse after he crashed Jasper Philipsen out of the Tour de France that his team threatened legal action against the haters.<\/p>\n

Just a few days later, Uno-X climber Tobias Johannessen said he was \u201cterrified\u201d by the torrent of rage directed his way after he took down Tadej Poga\u010dar in the final of the Tour\u2019s romp through Toulouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not wish anyone the amount of threats I get in my inbox,\u201d Johannessen said last July. \u201cThis feels very scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that was only the start of what was an ugly summer for cycling social media.<\/p>\n

Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot and Demi Vollering were whacked by internet \u201cweight watchers\u201d at the Tour de France Femmes, and Sarah Gigante endured a deluge of patronizing \u201cman-splaining\u201d on the topic of her tentative descending.<\/p>\n

There are countless examples of riders being targeted by online abuse \u2013 and no doubt thousands more cases that we don\u2019t know about.<\/p>\n

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The \u2018Threat Matrix\u2019<\/h2>\n
The \u2018threat matrix\u2019 will moderate comments left on riders\u2019 online accounts and in their inboxes.<\/span> (Photo: Grubers Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So how does the UCI plan to police social media?<\/p>\n

The governing body is loading up the \u201cThreat Matrix,\u201d a system developed by the London-based Signify Group. The platform is already in use in pro soccer, rugby, tennis, and skiing.<\/p>\n

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The \u201cThreat Matrix\u201d is designed to safeguard individuals by moderating comments left on their social media posts.<\/p>\n

The UCI appears to have also opted into an extra service that trawls inboxes and DMs in a move that will have riders worried about sharing their power data in all sorts of bother.<\/p>\n

A post on The Observer <\/em>explains that\u00a0Signify has \u201cdeveloped 20 different categories of keywords, emojis, and images that can be problematic or abusive, ranging from comments about body image to racism, sexism, sexual violence, and death threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those triggers are identified by an A.I. tool and then reported to human analysts for further investigation.<\/p>\n

According to the UCI, the worst cases will be reported to the relevant social media platform and, if necessary, to law enforcement authorities.<\/p>\n

So be warned.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re stalking a pro on Strava or scrolling the holiday snaps on their Instagram feed, be nice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Updated February 4, 2026 07:29AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/professional-cycling-uci-is-coming-for-the-trolls\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/trolls-5.png”] Updated February 4, 2026 07:29AM Online haters, be warned. The UCI is looking for you. Cycling\u2019s governing body has rolled out a new system to clamp down on online trolls who abuse or threaten riders. In 2026, the UCI will use an A.I.-driven platform that can trawl riders\u2019 social media accounts and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1749787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1749787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1749787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1749787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1749787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}