South African Willie Smit was disqualified from the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai in China\u00a0for filming the race using video-recording sunglasses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smit previously raced for the WorldTour team Katusha and for the second-tier Burgos-BH. The 33-year-old has been racing in Asia over the last five years, and uploaded footage from the opening stage in Xining, which showed grim conditions and a nasty crash.<\/p>\n
But race commissaires disqualified the racer and vlogger for his use of Oakley Meta Vanguard AI<\/a> sunglasses, which have a camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n They cited a rule introduced by the Union Cycliste Internale (UCI) in April, which states that devices capable of capturing or transmitting data are only authorised under strict conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today I was disqualified for the first time in my cycling career (14 years), for wearing glasses that record video. Unfortunately I was not aware of a new rule that was implemented in April that prohibited this. A warning, fine or yellow card could have also been enough. But what\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/II7nRUPKsE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Willie Smit (@williesmurfy) July 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cToday I was disqualified for the first time in my cycling career (14 years), for wearing glasses that record video. Unfortunately I was not aware of a new rule that was implemented in April that prohibited this. A warning, fine or yellow card could have also been enough,\u201d Smit posted on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smit then highlighted a difference between his treatment and what\u2019s happening at the Tour de France<\/a>, where Lidl-Trek\u2019s Toms Skuji\u0146\u0161\u00a0allegedly used a hand-held camera to interview Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s Victor Campenaerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut what I struggle to understand is why in the Tour de France can you quite literally vlog with a camera in your hand which is perfectly legal…but because the camera is in the glasses you get an automatic Disqualification?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, If I knew about the rule I would have also never posted it on social media. Anyways, I’ll take it on the chin,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd lastly, my glasses have absolutely no AI capabilities unless used with a phone. So on the bike it can do nothing but record video!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n