THE UCI'S BIGGEST HITS & MISSES

The UCI's crusade for a safer, slicker sport produced plenty of talking points in 2025. Michael Hutchinson audits the governing body's hit rate

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No racing season retrospective would be complete without pausing to contemplate the doings and undoings of our overlords at the Union Cycliste Internationale. From their lofty perch in Switzerland they have issued edicts ranging from the ingenious to the hilarious. Ruling over races big and small, from the Tour de France to your local crit, they have made decisions that explored the boundaries of ethics, logic and even physics. It's time to cast an eye over a few highlights of the UCI's year.

MISS Wider bars to slow us down

On the assumption that one of the things making road racing progressively more dangerous is speed, the UCI has decided it's time to make everyone a bit less quick. From January 2027, bars will need to be at least 40cm wide, with limits on the amount of flare between the tops and the drops and on the turn-in of the brake hoods.

The idea is that if they make everyone less aerodynamic with a wider arm position, they'll be slower - which is not in itself a daft idea. In recent years, many pros have moved to narrower bars, typically 36-38cm. Shifting to 40cm, a pretty wide bar by modern standards, is a little difficult, especially if you're a smaller female rider. It's also going to slow down small riders more than big riders (think about the body proportions), although maybe anything we can do to keep a lid on Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel is welcome. The other problem with it is that it's not going to slow things down very much.

MISS GPS trackers trial