As a reminder: In future, the handlebar width will be at least 40 centimetres at the outer edges and 32 centimetres between the brake levers. The rim height will be limited to 65 millimetres. This was later supplemented by a planned gear ratio limit of 54-11 or one adequate. All of this is intended to reduce speeds and thus the risk of injury.
Example Intermarché - Wanty
Intermarché Wanty mechanic Mikey van Kruiningen shows us what this can mean for individual riders using the example of Jonas Rutsch's Cube Litening Aero C:68X: his bike would be illegal in several respects next year. Despite a 40 mm handlebar on the outside, the distance between the levers is only 29 centimetres, although the levers are mounted conventionally. "That will affect many riders," estimates Van Kruiningen. We also measured significantly smaller distances for Jasper Philipsen and Niklas Märkl.
Jonas Rutsch would also have to do without his 55-tooth chainring. The Intermarché - Wanty team has been hit particularly hard because the Newmen Sprint rim, which is mainly used on flat stages, is 66 millimetres high at the rear wheel and would therefore no longer be covered by the regulations by a mere millimetre. "We are currently in a tough battle with the UCI," reports the Intermaché Wanty chief mechanic - and hints that he has comrades-in-arms from other teams in the peloton. "The last word has not yet been spoken," he says.
TOUR will be keeping an eye on this issue and we will be gathering more information in the coming weeks.
