Tom Pidcock has described the UCI’s proposed changes to its tech regulations as “dangerous” and seeming like a “smokescreen” to the Q36.5 Pro Cycling team rider.
The UCI, cycling’s governing body, announced a raft of huge changes to its tech regulations back in June, which are due to come into effect in January 2026. The changes include limiting the maximum gear ratios and regulations on handlebar width, alongside other measures.
“Limiting gears will only make everything more dangerous,” Pidcock told Marca ahead of the Arctic Race of Norway, which began yesterday.
“If we’re all going at the same top speed, we’ll be closer together, and on descents, that means we’ll take up more of the road,” he added.
The UCI’s restriction of gear ratios is to be trialled in races this year. It would limit gear ratios to a maximum ratio of 54×11, or the equivalent of 10.46m distance of wheel travel per rotation of the cranks.
Tom Pidcock: “Limiting gears will only make everything more dangerous.” Szymon Gruchalski / Getty Images
Pidcock joins industry experts who have expressed concern around the proposal. Red Bull – Bora – hansgrohe’s head of engineering, Dan Bigham, argued the restriction would make cycling less safe, during a presentation at the annual Science and Cycling conference in Lille, France.
Bigham added that the proposal would have little impact on racing speeds but a big impact on groupsets: “It’ll impact on as little as 0.01 per cent of a race and will arguably reduce speeds by no more than 0.5km/hr. All of this to change entire groupset design? It really doesn’t seem effective to me.”
Pidcock also commented on the UCI’s proposed changes to handlebar-width regulations: “The debate about handlebar width also seems like a smokescreen to me. We need to talk about the important issues.”
The UCI said its proposal to enforce a minimum handlebar width of 400mm (outside-to-outside) or 320mm (hood-to-hood) is to limit extreme or unsafe aero positions.
But industry experts told BikeRadar that the move was discriminatory because it fails to reflect the physiological needs of women and smaller riders.
Pidcock said: “I told my brother that if we continue like this, they should limit carbs for everyone and put us in ketosis, only then will the races be slower. We’re cyclists… people should focus on other things.”