{"id":201738,"date":"2025-10-10T01:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T01:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201738\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T01:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T01:05:19","slug":"innovation-and-safety-are-not-opposing-forces-sram-welcomes-uci-halt-on-gear-restriction-calls-for-better-open-governance-in-professional-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201738\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Innovation and safety are not opposing forces’: SRAM welcomes UCI halt on gear restriction, calls for better, ‘open’ governance in professional cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

SRAM has welcomed the Belgian Competition Authority\u2019s decision to suspend the UCI\u2019s proposed maximum gear ratio standard,<\/a> while calling for fairer, more transparent rule-making in professional cycling.<\/p>\n

Earlier today, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) announced it is imposing interim measures against the UCI, ordering the governing body to suspend its proposed gearing rule immediately. The authority sided with SRAM\u2019s argument that the standard hurts innovation and unfairly tilts the playing field.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The UCI aimed to set a gearing limit of 54\u00d711 maximum<\/a>, effectively outlawing SRAM’s 10-tooth cassettes, which are used in its latest Red <\/a>and Force AXS<\/a> groupsets. A trial of the new limit was due to debut at next week\u2019s Tour of Guangxi, serving as a study to determine whether higher gearing contributes to unsafe speeds in sprints and descents.<\/p>\n

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SRAM lodged a complaint <\/a>against the proposed rule in September, arguing that it placed its equipment and the teams that use it at a competitive disadvantage. SRAM, along with nine WorldTour teams, participated in an emergency hearing before the Competition College of the BCA in Brussels to argue their case.<\/p>\n

The BCA ruled that the gear-ratio standard indeed \u201cgenerates disproportionate negative effects on a sports equipment supplier, namely SRAM,\u201d and \u201cis likely to cause harm \u2026 that is serious and difficult to repair.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authority ordered the UCI to suspend the rule and barred it from imposing any similar restrictions until a transparent, non-discriminatory process is in place.<\/p>\n

For its part, the UCI said it was \u201csurprised by the intervention\u201d and confirmed it would appeal the decision.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe UCI deeply regrets that riders\u2019 safety does not appear to be a shared objective with those who challenged the implementation of the Maximum Gearing Test Protocol before the said Authority,\u201d the federation said in a statement, adding that it will continue to act “in the interests of the safety of riders.”<\/p>\n

SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg responded by calling for a reset in how the sport\u2019s rules are made.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation and safety are not opposing forces \u2014 in fact quite the opposite. They go hand in hand,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to reshape how the sport\u2019s key stakeholders engage. The UCI, teams and riders, sponsors, race organisers, and the cycling industry must collaborate to build a better future for the sport and its fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is simple: an open, transparent, and participative process that delivers meaningful safety improvements in racing, protects rider choice, and encourages innovation for the future of cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SRAM has welcomed the Belgian Competition Authority\u2019s decision to suspend the UCI\u2019s proposed maximum gear ratio standard, while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-201738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}