6 teams disqualified from women's Tour de Romandie - UCI takes action after major dispute with Visma and others

The Tour de Romandie Féminin starts today with a mountain time-trial but not only will the race lack the presence of the ill Demi Vollering, but also six entire teams who have been disqualified hours before it's start by the UCI. On the table is a bizarre dispute regarding the tracking system experiment which is being put to use in the three-day race.

Earlier this month it had been confirmed that the Swiss race would be used as a testing of a specific GPS system to track the riders at all times. This comes under the context of the unfortunate deaths in pro cycling that have happened over the year but most notably Muriel Furrier who passed away during last year's Zurich World Championships, after crashing into a wooded area and not being discovered until much later on.

"This initiative, part of the UCI’s and SafeR’s ongoing efforts to enhance rider safety in professional road cycling, will see one rider per team carry a GPS tracking device. The same technology will be deployed at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, where all riders will carry the device," the statement from the UCI said. "This represents an important step forward in ensuring the safety of riders, and the UCI will continue to work closely with event organisers and all stakeholders on the broader implementation of such technology in the coming seasons".

However not everything has gone as smoothly as hoped for, and according to Wielerflits Team Visma | Lease a Bike, AG Insurance-Soudal, EF-Oatly-Cannondale, Canyon//SRAM, Team Picnic PostNL and Lidl-Trek have been disqualified from the race as they have not agreed with the terms for using the GPS system. According to the report, the teams were asked to add the system to the bikes themselves, whilst also being liable in case of damage or loss of one due to crashes or other race situations.

This is an evolving story however and the disqualifications may be reversed.