IN BRIEF
Meeting in Montreal from 20 to 22 September, the UCI Management Committee wants to roll out GPS rider safety trackers widely, starting with the men’s and women’s WorldTour, on a timeline to be developed “as quickly as possible”. On the equipment side, the UCI is creating technical committees by product (including clothing, protective equipment, wheels and tyres, and frames), in which the UCI and the industry will hold the same number of seats. According to the UCI, the system will be extended to all committees from February 2027, after a pilot phase. The Lugano Charter, adopted in 1996, will be revised.
| GPS trackers | WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour first; timeline “as quickly as possible” |
| Finish-line barriers | Final 200 metres, WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour from 2027 |
| Equipment technical committees | Pilot for track, gravel and wheels; all committees from February 2027 |
| Lugano Charter (1996) | Consultation February-April 2027; new charter in 2027 |
According to the UCI, GPS trackers were fitted in every category at the 2025 Road World Championships in Kigali; they are being used again in Montreal and will be at future editions. Meeting in Canada, the UCI Management Committee now wants to extend them to the professional peloton, and is opening an in-depth review of equipment regulations.
GPS trackers for the whole professional peloton
According to the press release, the Management Committee stressed the pressing need to deploy these systems, which locate riders and vehicles in real time, widely at all professional road events, starting with the WorldTour and the Women’s WorldTour. Protocols, the regulatory framework and the timeline “will be developed as quickly as possible”, the UCI writes.
According to an earlier UCI press release, teams at the Tour de Romandie Féminin had refused the GPS test, which required a tracker to be fitted to the bike of one designated rider; they were excluded from the race. The UCI noted that most of them belonged to Velon, which is developing its own GPS system.
“On safety first, we adopted new standards for race barriers and reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring the deployment, as quickly as possible, of GPS rider safety tracking systems at professional road events.”
David Lappartient, UCI President
Another safety decision, according to the UCI: over the final 200 metres, barriers will have to meet the standards resulting from a study by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland Valais-Wallis, on the WorldTour and the Women’s WorldTour from 2027. The protocol will be made available to manufacturers.
Wheels, frames, protective gear: the industry gets a seat at the rule-making table
The UCI says it wants to channel manufacturers’ drive to innovate so as to avoid excesses that could compromise safety, fairness, universality or sustainability. It is creating a consultation framework to consult directly with manufacturers and independent experts, “without intermediaries”, with rider safety remaining the “absolute priority”.
In practice, the UCI is announcing technical committees by product family: rider equipment, bike and data. The UCI cites, for example, one committee for clothing, one for protective equipment, one for wheels and tyres, one for frames, plus cross-cutting committees (procedures, disciplines). Each will bring together the industry, independent experts and the UCI, with as many seats for the UCI as for the industry.
Their opinions will feed into the Equipment and New Technologies Commission, which formulates recommendations; the decision remains with the Management Committee. A pilot phase first sets up the track, gravel and wheels committees, before the extension to all committees from February 2027, the UCI states.
The Lugano Charter reopened thirty years on
The committee is also launching the review of the Lugano Charter, the founding text of the values and principles of international cycling adopted by the UCI in 1996. According to road.cc, the text was intended to curb the technological arms race of the time. A draft will be submitted from February to April 2027 to the families of cycling and to manufacturers; the new charter will be presented in 2027.
“From a regulatory perspective, the opening of a new consultation framework with cycling industry members, together with the launch of the review of the Lugano Charter thirty years after its adoption, illustrate our commitment to evolving our rules in consultation with all the families of cycling.”
David Lappartient, UCI President
Finally, the committee received the report of the Medical Director, Professor Xavier Bigard: according to the UCI, the study on crashes conducted since March 2026 shows injuries that are generally more frequent and more serious among female riders, with a return to competition twice as long on average. According to the UCI, the committee approved the principles of a regulation on female genetic testing, which will be submitted for approval before the end of the year and will apply exclusively to IOC-recognised events.
