The mess of bicycles, gear, and contracts is over until December

One of the most incomprehensible things about cycling is having to spend months, after the end of the season, watching cyclists who change teams training in the colors of their old squad alongside their new teammates. Now, the UCI is finally taking action and working on a change in the regulations.

The UCI seeks to change the rule that establishes the end of contracts on December 31

One of those rules that no one understands and that cycling has dragged on since time immemorial is the one that sets the start of the validity of cyclists' contracts on January 1 and establishes the end date as December 31. These dates are completely detached from the reality of cycling activity, which establishes its cycles with the competition season as a reference.

This leaves us each year with the strange image in the preseason training camps of groups with a mix of colors between those of each team and the new signings who are not de facto members of the squad until January 1.

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Benefits of training in the cold

Beyond the impact on image, after all a minor issue, the implications this may have at a labor level remain in the air since the cyclist does not yet belong to the team with which they are training. Also, in the sporting aspect, this can pose problems for those cyclists who compete in cyclocross during the autumn and winter and find themselves in limbo.

These dates associated with contracts are related to the validity period of licenses, which also fall within the range of the calendar year.

Now, according to sources from the UCI itself, the highest body of cycling is working to modify the rules that regulate this. For this, they are already in talks with representatives from the Professional Cyclists' Association and the Professional Cycling Teams Association with the aim of setting the contract expiration date to October 31, the date on which the UCI road calendar marks the end of the season.

Representatives from the teams, such as the director of Visma-Lease a Bike, have already spoken out and welcomed this change, which, in principle, benefits all actors in the road cycling landscape.