SRAM has welcomed the Belgian Competition Authority’s decision to suspend the UCI’s proposed maximum gear ratio standard, while calling for fairer, more transparent rule-making in professional cycling.
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’s argument that the standard hurts innovation and unfairly tilts the playing field.
The UCI aimed to set a gearing limit of 54×11 maximum, effectively outlawing SRAM's 10-tooth cassettes, which are used in its latest Red and Force AXS groupsets. A trial of the new limit was due to debut at next week’s Tour of Guangxi, serving as a study to determine whether higher gearing contributes to unsafe speeds in sprints and descents.
SRAM lodged a complaint 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.
The BCA ruled that the gear-ratio standard indeed “generates disproportionate negative effects on a sports equipment supplier, namely SRAM,” and “is likely to cause harm … that is serious and difficult to repair.”
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.
For its part, the UCI said it was “surprised by the intervention” and confirmed it would appeal the decision.
“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,” the federation said in a statement, adding that it will continue to act "in the interests of the safety of riders."
SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg responded by calling for a reset in how the sport’s rules are made.
“Innovation and safety are not opposing forces — in fact quite the opposite. They go hand in hand,” he said. “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.
“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.”
