Finishing straights, radios, fax: The new UCI rules coming on July 1

Some of the changes were already signalled in a statement released by the governing body after a meeting of the UCI Management Committee last week, but the full slate of alterations was confirmed on Monday.

The UCI has formally confirmed that there will be 23 teams at all three Grand Tours in 2027 and 2028, maintaining the additional, discretionary wildcard that organisers have had at their disposal for the past two seasons.

The regulations around finishing straights in races have also been amended, with a minimum length of “at least 200 metres” now specified in the rulebook. According to the published routes, the finales of every stage of the 2026 Tour de France already adhere to this rule.

The UCI has also placed a limit on the size of radio units carried by riders in races, with the dimensions not permitted to exceed 150 x 60 x 35 mm. 

A new measure cracking down on the “non authorised modification to clothing” has already garnered headlines, with some wondering if the rule was inspired by Jonas Vingegaard’s use of amended bib tights on the rainswept stage 4 of Paris-Nice.

The UCI’s update to regulations on clothing also includes an instruction that “pockets on the jersey must be located exclusively on the back of the garment.” 

Such pockets are for the purposes of carrying nutrition, accessories and clothing, while the UCI has decreed that pockets at the front of the jersey are permitted for “the sole purpose of incorporating a radio communication device.”

Elsewhere, team cars are now expressly banned from feeding riders in feed zones that have been designated by the rider – i.e. in such areas, riders can only take a feed from a soigneur on the roadside. 

As the UCI announced last week, riders and teams representing Belarus will be readmitted to competition from July 1, with the ban on the country’s emblems and anthems also lifted. Belarusian national teams and riders were prohibited from international competition in 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been supported by the Belarusian government. The easing of restrictions on Belarusian athletes follows a recommendation from the IOC Board in May.

The UCI has also signalled that women’s under-23 races will be exclusively for riders from that category as of July 1.

The amendments also see the quiet removal of a near-defunct medium from UCI communications, with race organisers no longer required to make fax machines available to media. 

UCI rule 2.2.080, which governs telecommunications, states that “the organisers shall make available to press personnel such means of transmission as they require,” but “fax” has been crossed off a list that includes “telephone” and “internet.”

The UCI has also amended to rules so that it will no longer accept race results from organisers via fax, with all communications now formally obliged to be conducted via email.

As of July 1, the rules governing rider agents in the men’s peloton will also apply to women’s cycling – namely, female riders and women’s professional teams will only be permitted to work with agents in possession of a UCI licence.

From January 1 next year, meanwhile, the UCI’s yellow card system will be extended to include Class 1 events for elite men and women. The system is currently in operation at WorldTour and ProSeries events, as well as World Championships, Continental Championships and the Olympic Games.