SRAM has said it welcomes the suspension of the UCI’s planned trial of gearing restrictions, after the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) ruled yesterday that the initiative may breach competition law and unfairly harm SRAM and its sponsored teams.
The American brand brought the case to the BCA last month and said the cycling governing body’s planned trial of gearing restrictions at next week’s Tour of Guangxi unfairly targeted its equipment. It alleged that the UCI’s protocol was “adopted without consultation or transparency” and amounted to an abuse of competition law.
In a statement released yesterday, SRAM said: “On October 3, SRAM participated in an emergency hearing before the Competition College of the BCA in Brussels to contest the UCI's newly imposed gearing restriction – a rule that was fundamentally unfair to SRAM riders, teams, and SRAM itself.
“The BCA initiated formal anti-trust proceedings under European and Belgian competition laws on September 17. Nine professional cycling teams voluntarily joined the process to oppose the restrictions.
“At the hearing, SRAM and the teams advocated for an open, non-discriminatory, and objective rule-making process in professional cycling – one that ensures a level playing field, fosters meaningful safety improvements, and respects rider choice.”
The UCI issued its own statement explaining that the trial at the Tour of Guangxi will not go ahead, but it criticised the BCA’s intervention “on a subject desired by all stakeholders of cycling”, referring to the ongoing discussion around how to improve rider safety.
However, SRAM’s CEO Ken Lousberg said it is time to “reshape how the sport’s key stakeholders engage”.
“The UCI, teams and riders, sponsors, race organizers, and the cycling industry must collaborate to build a better future for the sport and its fans. The best outcomes happen when everyone has a seat at the table,” Lousberg said.
“We're more optimistic than ever that through open communication and shared goals we can create a safer, more inclusive sport. Innovation and safety are not opposing forces – in fact quite the opposite. They go hand in hand,” he added.
Gearing restrictions and their effect on rider safety has been a contentious debate throughout the current road cycling season. Critics have claimed it would have no effect on peloton speeds and even claimed it would “make everything more dangerous”.
The debate is part of a wider controversy over the UCI’s new technical regulations, which include rules on handlebar width, wheel depth and helmet design, and has prompted widespread criticism of the governing body.
EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters responded on X to the UCI’s statement on the BCA’s ruling, encapsulating much of the current debate around safety in road cycling. “Perhaps things like making sure parked (and still moving) vehicles are not on the race course, blind corners with rock piles in the apex are not on race courses, and motorcycles aren’t part of the peloton take precedence over gear restrictions, sock lengths, and handlebar width?” Vaughters wrote.
