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Five Big Teams Disqualified in Tour de Romandie After Clash with UCI

Five Big Teams Disqualified in Tour de Romandie After Clash with UCI

Six teams will not be allowed to start on Friday in the 2025 Tour of Romandie Women. The UCI disqualified them following a dispute over the use of a new tracking system during the first stage. The Swiss WorldTour race begins with an individual time trial from Huémoz to Villars-sur-Ollon. Visma | Lease a Bike confirmed to WielerFlits that they are one of the five teams that have been disqualified.

The discussion revolves around the new GPS tracker. The UCI wants to test the system at the Tour of Romandie Women. They plan to equip one rider per team with it. The trackers provide real-time location data to race officials, medical teams, and UCI commissaires. The intention is to implement the system at the World Championships in the future. However, the rules regarding the tracking system were imposed without proper consultation. Teams proposed, as a compromise, to equip all riders with the devices.

Besides Visma | Lease a Bike, five other top teams are involved: Picnic PostNL, Lidl-Trek, Canyon//SRAM, EF-Oatly-Cannondale, and AG Insurance-Soudal. These teams are in conflict with the UCI. According to insiders, the federation wants to hold the teams responsible for the new tracking system. For example, if the device falls off a bike causing a crash, the teams would be held liable. Nevertheless, the UCI allegedly demanded without consent that mechanics install the device on the bikes.

There is also a commercial aspect: teams have invested for years in Velon. According to the same insiders, the system the UCI now wants to use bears a strong resemblance to that one. The federation insists on using their system, but the teams fear they will no longer have access to the data and information, making their investments in Velon worthless. It remains to be seen whether the disqualification will stand: a breakthrough might still allow the teams to start.

UPDATE 12:39 PM: Visma | Lease a Bike reports to WielerFlits that they are definitively not allowed to start. The UCI later confirmed that the other teams have also been disqualified, except for AG Insurance-Soudal.

Letter addressed to the UCI
In recent days, the six involved teams have sent letters to Matthew Knight, the UCI's Strategic Sport Manager. The latest letter from Friday morning is in the hands of, and published by, British journalist Daniel Benson. In it, the teams collectively refer to individual letters they sent to the UCI on Tuesday, August 12, and Wednesday, August 13. They request clarification regarding the proposed GPS tracking test the UCI is conducting in the Tour of Romandie.

A successful test of the new safety tracking system took place in the Tour de Suisse for men and women. One of the reasons for implementing that system was the disappearance of Muriel Furrer during the World Championships in Zürich last year. All parties agreed to that test. However, the UCI has now mandated the same system under the banner of safety at the upcoming World Championships in Rwanda. They are testing it at the Tour of Romandie Women this weekend.

The problem for the teams is that the UCI demands that either they themselves or a third party install the system on the teams’ bikes without the teams’ permission. According to the teams, that right belongs exclusively to the teams themselves. They state that this is recognized by all stakeholders in professional cycling, as they write to the UCI. On Friday morning, during a meeting with UCI commissaires and team directors, the six involved teams took the following position:
  1. The teams do not agree that the UCI imposes the use of tracking devices during a race.
  2. Since the UCI threatens disqualification against teams opposing or refusing this, the teams will not allow the UCI and/or its partners to attach the devices to their bikes. The teams have no time to legally challenge this position and believe it would be extremely unfair to all teams, riders, race organizers, and fans if teams are disqualified over a tracking test that the UCI is imposing as a supervisor for its own benefit as organizer.
  3. The teams emphasize to the UCI that the installation of the equipment falls under the sole responsibility of the UCI and/or its partners in relation to the teams and the respective riders. The teams have instructed their staff to photograph anyone who attaches a device to a team bike and to record their full identification details. This person is also personally liable for any accidents, injuries, or damages caused by such a device.
  4. Team personnel will not mount, remove, charge, or manage the devices in any way during the race. The teams have been instructed not to touch the devices and do not accept liability for any damage to the devices affixed to the bikes.
  5. Neither the teams nor their riders give permission for the collection, use, or distribution of data, insofar as such consent is required.
  6. The team will not select an individual rider to carry a device, as this disadvantages that rider relative to others, which is clearly discriminatory. We remind the UCI that the teams and their riders reserve their rights against the UCI and/or its partner(s) should the test be conducted in a discriminatory manner. If the UCI regulations grant the UCI legally enforceable rights to attach a device to team bikes without consent, these regulations must be applied fairly and equally to all riders and not discriminate against individual rights.