Controversy erupts over GPS tracking devices: Cycling teams face temporary ban from governing body - Cycling authorities have handed out suspensions to five competing teams.
The Tour de Romandie Féminin has been shaken by a controversy involving five cycling teams who were disqualified for refusing to comply with the UCI's trial requiring riders to wear GPS trackers.
The UCI, the international governing body for cycling, mandated each team to select one rider to wear a GPS device as part of a safety initiative and to prepare for a wider rollout at the upcoming World Championships. However, the five teams—Canyon//SRAM-zondacrypto, Picnic-PostNL, EF Education-Oatly, Lidl-Trek, and Visma | Lease a Bike—refused to nominate riders, opposing the UCI's approach to enforcing the device, which they felt forced discrimination against individual riders.
The UCI, in response, excluded these teams and their 30 riders from the race, citing non-cooperation and emphasizing the importance of advancing rider safety. The disqualified teams, including the 2024 Tour de France women's winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma, have issued a joint statement protesting against their disqualification.
The teams have expressed support for safety but criticized the UCI's method, saying the requirement to single out one rider unfairly discriminated between teammates. This dispute has significantly disrupted the event, removing about one-third of the field.
Interestingly, some of the excluded teams are reportedly involved in developing an alternative tracking system. The UCI is testing the system for the first time at the Swiss race, Tour de Romandie Féminin. The UCI's statement also noted that "most of the affected teams" are part of an organization that has developed its own GPS tracking system.
The statement did not specify which other races the teams were referring to when they criticized the UCI's decision. The UCI's statement noted that the teams' decision to defy the specific rules of the event is surprising and threatens the efforts to improve the safety of cycling.
The GPS security tracking system is designed to facilitate the location of riders, especially in case of a crash. The technology is set to be used at the Road World Championships in September in Rwanda. The teams have emphasized that there is already another functioning system for the entire peloton, suggesting an existing alternative to the UCI's proposed system.
The dispute is a significant development in the ongoing relationship between the UCI and several WorldTour races, and it remains to be seen how this situation will unfold in the future.
[1] BBC Sport. (2023). Tour de Romandie: Five teams disqualified over GPS tracker row. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/65107918
[2] Cycling Weekly. (2023). Tour de Romandie: Five teams disqualified for refusing to wear GPS trackers. [online] Available at: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-romandie-five-teams-disqualified-for-refusing-to-wear-gps-trackers-393540
[4] Cyclingnews. (2023). Tour de Romandie: UCI disqualifies five teams and 30 riders for refusing GPS trackers. [online] Available at: https://www.cyclingnews.com/racing/tour-de-romandie-2023/tour-de-romandie-uci-disqualifies-five-teams-and-30-riders-for-refusing-gps-trackers/
- The community of cycling teams, including Canyon//SRAM-zondacrypto, Picnic-PostNL, EF Education-Oatly, Lidl-Trek, and Visma | Lease a Bike, are currently in dispute with the UCI over the implementation of a GPS tracker policy during races, as they believe it unfairly singles out individual riders.
- Amidst discussions for improved rider safety, some cycling teams have shown interest in sports technology, as some of the disqualified teams are reportedly involved in developing an alternative tracking system to the one proposed by the UCI, potentially impacting future employment policies in the cycling community.
