\u201cLimiting gears will only make everything more dangerous,\u201d Pidcock told Marca<\/a> ahead of the Arctic Race of Norway, which began yesterday.<\/p>\n \u201cIf 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n The UCI\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pidcock joins industry experts who have expressed concern around the proposal. Red Bull \u2013 Bora \u2013 hansgrohe\u2019s head of engineering, Dan Bigham, argued the restriction would make cycling less safe<\/a>, during a presentation at the annual Science and Cycling conference in Lille, France.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bigham added that the proposal would have little impact on racing speeds but a big impact on groupsets: \u201cIt\u2019ll 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\u2019t seem effective to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Pidcock also commented on the UCI\u2019s proposed changes to handlebar-width regulations: \u201cThe debate about handlebar width also seems like a smokescreen to me. We need to talk about the important issues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Pro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2200598586.jpg\")
Tom Pidcock: \u201cLimiting gears will only make everything more dangerous.\u201d Szymon Gruchalski \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n