A month after SRAM took the UCI to court over its controversial gear-limit rule, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has stepped in, suspending the regulation just days before it was due to be tested at the Tour of Guangxi, and opening a broader fight over how cycling governs technology.
In its ruling, the Belgian watchdog sided with SRAM’s argument that the standard hurts innovation and unfairly tilts the playing field.
“The BCA recognises the legitimacy and importance for a sports regulator such as the UCI to ensure the safety of athletes,” the authority's statement reads. “However, the procedures for determining technical standards enacted for this purpose, as well as the related tests, must meet essential conditions of proportionality, objectivity, transparency and non-discrimination in view of the economic consequences of these standards.
“They cannot result in an undue restriction of competition between sports equipment suppliers. The BCA considers prima facie that the Maximum Gear Ratio Standard and the procedures governing its adoption by the UCI do not meet the required conditions of objectivity and transparency.”
The ruling temporarily suspends the UCI’s Maximum Gear Ratio Standard, which limits bikes to a 54×11 top gear. The BCA says the standard “generates disproportionate negative effects on a sports equipment supplier, namely SRAM."
SRAM, one of the two dominant drivetrain suppliers in the WorldTour, argued that the rule would effectively outlaw its 10-tooth sprocket system, which is used in its latest Red and Force AXS groupsets, and that, in turn, would disadvantage its sponsored teams.
The BCA agreed that the measure was “likely to cause harm to SRAM that is serious and difficult to repair,” extending that harm to “professional cycling teams equipped with SRAM transmission systems.”
What this means
In practical terms, the UCI must “suspend immediately, and no later than 13 October, the implementation of the Maximum Gear Ratio Standard” and is “prohibited from imposing transmission-ratio limitations” in any professional road event until it adopts a transparent and non-discriminatory replacement, or until a final decision is made.
The BCA also ordered the UCI to publish within 24 hours a press release stating that the rule “is not applicable” and referring to the Belgian authority’s decision. It warned that non-compliance could trigger penalty payments and further action.
While the BCA is formally a national regulator, its decisions can carry significant weight beyond Belgium’s borders. The BCA operates within the European Competition Network (ECN), which links all EU competition authorities and the European Commission to ensure consistent enforcement of antitrust law across the market. Under EU competition law, national authorities such as the BCA can intervene when rules, even those set by global sports bodies, affect their territory or the wider EU economy.
Ignoring the BCA’s ruling could therefore expose the UCI to broader European scrutiny. To avoid a patchwork of enforcement across the EU, the governing body has suspended its planned trial of the maximum gear-ratio standard at next week’s Tour of Guangxi, though it intends to appeal the ruling.
UCI pushes back
In a statement released on Thursday, the UCI said it would suspend the testing protocol but that it was “surprised at the intervention of a competition authority on a subject desired by all stakeholders of cycling,” noting that the decision came “in response to a complaint from a US company against a Swiss sports association regarding a test to be carried out on Chinese territory.”
It added:
“The UCI deeply regrets that riders’ 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. However, the UCI will continue to act in the interests of the safety of riders, other members of the peloton and spectators.”
The governing body confirmed it will appeal the decision and may modify the Testing Protocol to allow its safety analysis “desired by all stakeholders in professional road cycling.”
SRAM welcomes ruling, calls for more open governance
SRAM quickly welcomed the decision, while calling for more transparent rule-making in cycling.
“It’s time to reshape how the sport’s 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," said CEO Ken Lousberg.
"Innovation and safety are not opposing forces — in fact quite the opposite. They go hand in hand. Our 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.”
