Former WorldTour rider disqualified from race for wearing Oakley Meta smart glasses
South African cyclist Willie Smit was disqualified from the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai after wearing video-recording smart glasses during the race, prompting him to question what he sees as inconsistent enforcement of the UCI's equipment regulations.
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The 33-year-old South African racing for the China Anta-Mentech Cycling Team was disqualified from the Chinese stage race on the opening stage on July 11 after officials deemed his Oakley Meta smart glasses breached a UCI regulation governing the use of recording devices during competition.
Smit later reacted to the decision on social media after receiving the first disqualification of his 14-year professional career.
"Today I was disqualified for the first time in my cycling career (14 years), for wearing glasses that record video," he wrote on social media. "Unfortunately, I was not aware of a new rule that was implemented in April that prohibited this. A warning, fine, or yellow card could have also been enough."
Smit, who raced for WorldTour outfit Katusha Alpecin in 2018 and 2019 before joining ProTeam Burgos BH for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, questioned why he had been removed from the race, citing footage of riders in the Tour de France peloton using handheld cameras during stages.
"But what I struggle to understand is why in the Tour de France can you quite literally vlog with a camera in your hand which is perfectly legal, but because the camera is in the glasses you get an automatic disqualification?!" he wrote.
Smit added that had he known about the regulation, he would never have uploaded the footage from the stage to social media.
According to Smit, race officials informed him that the UCI had requested his disqualification after identifying the glasses. While disappointed with the outcome, he accepted the decision.
The incident centres on UCI regulation 1.3.006, which covers the use of onboard technology in competition.
The rules allow certain devices capable of collecting data or recording images, but they must be mounted on the bicycle unless covered by specific exemptions. Wearable video-recording glasses are not among those exceptions, making their use during road races prohibited under the current regulations.
Following the opening three stages, Jonathan Klever Caicedo (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team) leads stage 3 winner Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana) by a solitary second in the GC. The Tour of Magnificent Qinghai is eight stages in total and will draw to a close at the Qinghai Lake Scenic Area on July 18.
Result: Tour of Magnificent Qinghai stage 3
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