UCI tightens safety rules and focuses on... the size of bike computers!

The safety of cycling is at stake. Only yesterday there were big crashes in the Tour de Wallonie and the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, and in the Giro d’Italia — both men’s and women’s — many riders also hit the deck. It is therefore no surprise that the UCI is drawing up new rules for rider safety, but one of the latest interventions is open to debate.

The International Cycling Union met over the past few days in Desenzano del Garda, Italy. There, among other things, it discussed next year’s cycling calendar, but also the exclusion of certain countries from the peloton. Belarusian riders will once again be allowed to race under their own flag, and the same applies to Russian juniors — provided they make no reference to their country of origin.

But a large part of the meetings was about equipment. The UCI had previously wanted to look at a limit on gearing. Speeds in the peloton are getting higher and higher, and that is seen as a major reason for the number of crashes and their consequences. But the UCI’s ideas got in the way of SRAM, which sounded the alarm at the time.

Their gearing systems would fall outside the cycling body’s new proposal, with consequences at both professional and commercial level. SRAM decided to go to court, and the Belgian Competition Authority blocked the proposal. That decision still stands, even after an appeal by the UCI. The UCI has now decided to suspend the test for the new gearing rules.

On another front, however, the UCI has managed to introduce new rules. This time it concerns bike computers, according to a press release. From 1 January 2028, they may be a maximum of 126 millimetres long and 71 millimetres wide, which corresponds to the largest computers currently on the market. Why? Riders would be distracted by overly large bike computers. The more data is available, the less riders pay attention to the road, according to the explanation.

The UCI has also imposed another ban, this time concerning jerseys. According to the International Cycling Union, there were riders who had pockets on the front of the jersey, into which food was put. But that food was not, or only rarely, actually used for nutrition. Research would suggest that filling the jersey in that way has a positive effect on aerodynamics.

And that is unfair, says the UCI. It can also be dangerous. Front jersey pockets are harder to reach than pockets on the back of the jersey. If someone does want to take a bar out of that pocket, it could create an unsafe situation. From 1 July, only back pockets will therefore be allowed in racing. Only a radio is permitted on the rider’s chest.

What about the calendar changes? There are a few small adjustments here and there. Eschborn-Frankfurt has traditionally been held on 1 May, but will now be raced on Sunday 2 May in 2027. The biggest change, however, is in the Vuelta a España. It will start much later than normal: it will be a race held only in September.

Normally the Tour of Spain starts in mid-August. This year the start is scheduled for 22 August, but next year the race will begin on 4 September. That has everything to do with the super World Championships in France: they will take place between 24 August and 5 September. There is still some overlap, but it ends with the women’s road race. Whether the men can race earlier because of the Vuelta is unclear, but it seems likely.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]