UCI suddenly bans Gravaa tyre pressure system, right before Paris-Roubaix

The Gravaa system was one of Visma | Lease a Bike's biggest innovations heading into Paris-Roubaix. The tyre pressure system would allow the team to roll over the cobbles with softer tyres, and then fly over the tarmac with harder tyres. A brilliant idea; but on Sunday they will not be allowed to use it. The UCI has suddenly banned it.

Visma's Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer revealed this major setback on the In de Waaier podcast. 'We have worked with the Gravaa system for the past two years,' says Heijboer. 'We developed it further, and rode and tested with it extensively in winter. However, just under two weeks ago we received a letter from the UCI saying it is banned.'

Taking place just before Paris-Roubaix, Heijboer claims it is because of the bankruptcy of the company. 'It is a somewhat vague story. There was no announcement that this was coming, and we still raced with it at the GP Denain. Per Strand Hagenes could just as easily have won with this system. But the company behind Gravaa went bankrupt.'

The company went bankrupt because the system was actually too expensive for most recreational cyclists. It was primarily intended for the professional teams. 'They quickly made a restart, but the UCI has doubts about the commercial availability because of the reason behind the bankruptcy. They said: we are banning it for the rest of the year.' Despite commercial difficulties, at the time of writing the system is very much on the market.

Is the ban of Gravaa legal? 'We asked all those questions too,' says Heijboer. 'There is also no rule stating it must be available one or two months in advance. The moment of inclusion is the race — at that point it must be commercially available. The rules have not changed either. You can understand that we were dumbfounded. It was communicated at such short notice that we have to swallow it.'

Visma | Lease a Bike can do very little about it. 'Appealing also means a whole procedure. Given our previous experiences, we do not think it has a chance of success at such short notice. The penalties range from a warning to disqualification. You are not going to take that risk. Moreover, it costs a lot of preparation time. It is also not something you can postpone until Saturday.'

Regarding the timing of the letter, so shortly before Paris-Roubaix (and after the GP Denain, where Hagenes still expressed confidence in the system), Heijboer has his reservations. 'I cannot look inside their heads, but it is just a little too coincidental. Especially because the GP Denain is the biggest cobbled race after Paris-Roubaix, and for us it is the last test moment in competition. At that point there was nothing wrong. So close to Roubaix is naturally no coincidence. We are going to challenge this, but for Paris-Roubaix it is of course too late.'

Does the ban reduce Wout van Aert's chances of winning? Heijboer is convinced it does. 'We have a great deal of faith in the system and have tested it extensively. The big advantage is not only that you can ride with high pressure on the tarmac and low pressure on the cobbles, but if you get a puncture, the tyre seals itself and pumps back up to the pressure you want. That has happened multiple times, including at the GP Denain.'