“It is deplorable” – UCI condemns GPS test refusal as Romandie teams disqualified

The Tour de Romandie Féminin began this afternoon not with a celebration of elite women’s racing, but with a firestorm of controversy that saw six World Tour teams disqualified before a pedal was turned. Now, cycling’s governing body has responded in full, issuing a statement that not only defends its decision to enforce GPS tracking tests — but also accuses teams of undermining the sport’s collective efforts to improve rider safety.

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regrets that certain teams on the start list for the Tour de Romandie Féminin have refused to comply with the rules for the race related to the implementation of GPS trackers as a test for a new safety system,” the statement began.

The UCI test, implemented at the Swiss three-day stage race, was intended as a trial run ahead of a full rollout at the 2025 Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda. Under the scheme, one rider per team was required to carry a small (63g) GPS tracking device across the race’s three stages, with the aim of improving crash response times and enabling live monitoring by medical and race officials.

But five teams — Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto, EF Education–Oatly, Lidl–Trek, Team Picnic PostNL, and Team Visma | Lease a Bike — refused to comply with the protocol, citing concerns over liability, logistics, and the manner in which the test was imposed. Their refusal to nominate a rider to carry the device led to their exclusion from the event.

In its statement, the UCI expressed surprise and frustration: “The decision of these teams to oppose the specific rules for the event is surprising, and undermines the cycling family’s efforts to ensure the safety of all riders in road cycling by developing this new technology.”

“It is deplorable to witness the refusal of certain teams to move forward together to protect the safety of riders, and the UCI condemns their non-cooperation.”

The governing body made clear that the rules had been communicated well in advance — specifically on 7 August — and reiterated during the pre-race sport directors’ meeting. The GPS test, the UCI noted, had been mandated under Articles 1.3.073 and 2.12.007/3.5.3 of the UCI Regulations, which grant the organization authority to issue event-specific rules. “Teams were required to designate one rider on whose bike the GPS tracker would be fixed,” the statement reads. “Teams were given further explanations during the Sport Directors pre-event meeting.”

But as EF boss Jonathan Vaughters revealed in a widely circulated tweet, teams didn’t refuse the GPS per se — they objected to being forced to select which of their own riders would carry the device without clarity on performance implications or crash liability. Instead, some asked the UCI to assign the rider themselves. The request was denied. “For me?” Vaughters wrote. “Using [a] World Tour event as testing ground is wrong. Beyond that, once you’ve chosen to impose your will; refusing to select which riders get to be the victims and throwing that decision on the teams? Not right. And then disqualifying teams for not choosing the victim?”

That version of events was not acknowledged in the UCI’s rebuttal, which instead claimed: “The UCI regrets that certain teams have objected to the test by not nominating a rider to carry the tracking device and have therewith opted to be excluded from the Tour de Romandie Féminin.”

In what many read as a politically charged footnote, the UCI also highlighted that most of the disqualified teams are affiliated with Velon, an organization that develops its own telemetry and GPS systems — and which has had an ongoing and at times adversarial relationship with the UCI over data rights and commercial access. “It should be noted that most of these teams are part of the Velon organisation which is the owner of its own data transmission system and is working on the development of its own GPS tracking system,” the UCI said.

That line — seemingly implying a conflict of interest or ulterior motive — may inflame rather than calm tensions. The teams themselves have thus far framed their refusal not in commercial terms, but in ethical and operational ones: a lack of consultation, limited technical support, and insufficient risk evaluation.

The Romandie Féminin continues with a depleted peloton and a leadership vacuum in the women’s field — both Demi Vollering (illness) and six entire teams are missing from the start list.

The UCI has hinted that further consequences could follow: “In view of this situation, the UCI shall consider if other measures are warranted in accordance with the UCI Regulations.”

That could mean disciplinary action against teams, renewed debate over GPS standardization, or — more optimistically — a hard reset in how innovations like this are implemented.

The disqualified teams haven’t issued full statements yet, but the fallout has already exposed rifts in cycling’s fragile ecosystem — between governance and competition, safety and sovereignty, and innovation and control.