The revolution being considered by the UCI: 16-day Grand Tours, fewer riders, financial limits, drones, VAR...

The UCI has just published Future of Cycling, a comprehensive document that gives an idea of how professional cycling could change in the coming years. Shorter Grand Tours, reduced pelotons, budget limits, new signing windows, and technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence, and a possible VAR are among the proposals.

The UCI lays out the future of professional cycling

Future of Cycling is the result of a consultation initiated by the UCI in February 2026. The organization received 55 contributions from teams, riders, organizers, federations, manufacturers, sponsors, media, and other stakeholders in cycling, which it has now synthesized into a report of about 40 pages. Here you can read it in full.

The document includes proposals and points of consensus around five major issues: calendar and participation, economic model, fans, safety, and sports integrity.

The process now begins to decide which of these can actually become reforms. The first guidelines should be presented during the WorldTour seminar in Benidorm, on December 9 and 10, while the UCI places 2029 as the first horizon for introducing changes.

RECOMENDADO

The Super Worlds force some date changes: UCI confirms the 2027 WorldTour calendar

Origine will leave the XCO World Cup in 2027 after two seasons and 74 podium finishes

A winter without Van der Poel? Cyclocross braces for a possible season without the eight-time World Champion

2026 European Cycling Championships: route, schedule and favourites for the races in Ljubljana

It’s official: Pogačar will not race the European Championships and Roglič will lead Slovenia

Why Pidcock skipped the official setup at the World Championships and rode €6,000 Partington wheels

Here we take a look at their general proposals.

Grand Tours of 16 days

One of the most striking ideas is to reduce the duration of stage races, including the possibility of shortening the Grand Tours from their current three weeks to 16 days.

This would free up space in a very congested calendar and allow the best riders to compete in a greater number of races during the season.

It is also proposed to organize the calendar through geographical blocks, reducing travel and avoiding some of the current overlaps.

Smaller pelotons

The reduction in the number of riders is also on the table. Smaller teams would mean less numerous pelotons, which could help alleviate the calendar for teams and improve safety.

The UCI is also considering revising certain participation obligations and the functioning of the points system.

What the organization does rule out is transforming the WorldTour into a closed franchise competition. Its intention is to maintain an open sports structure with access mechanisms to the highest category.

Budget limits for teams

The huge economic difference between structures is another identified problem. Moreover, teams continue to depend extraordinarily on their main sponsors to survive.

Among the solutions is some mechanism of financial equity, which could include budget limits or other formulas aimed at reducing the differences between the wealthiest teams and the rest.

Joint broadcasting rights

The report also suggests studying the grouping of certain commercial and audiovisual rights, with the aim of increasing their value and creating new sources of income for cycling.

This is one of the most complex issues. The UCI recognizes the commercial rights of current organizers and states that any grouping would have to be done voluntarily and through shared governance.

Signing windows

The cycling market could approach the functioning of other professional sports through specific windows for signings.

New rules on transfers and possible economic compensations between teams are also being studied. The UCI is already working in parallel on the regulation of agents and a reform of the transfer system.

A digital platform to attract new fans

The UCI believes that cycling has a huge global audience but struggles to transform it into an active community and generate income commensurate with that popularity.

Among the proposals is a unified digital platform, greater use of race data, and new content formats. There is particular concern about attracting under-35s, who are currently underrepresented among cycling fans.

Drones to reduce vehicles in races

Safety is one of the issues that generates the most consensus. One of the ideas is to reduce the number of vehicles present in races and study whether some of their functions can be taken over by drones.

There is also broad support for generalizing real-time GPS to constantly know the position of the riders. Although the truth is that this measure is far from being a proposal it seems to be closer to becoming a reality.

A safety rating for finishes

The routes could also be subjected to stricter controls. Among the proposals is to establish objective criteria to assess the safety of the final kilometers, as well as minimum standards for barriers and protections.

Descents, urban areas, and other particularly delicate points could be analyzed more thoroughly before approving the routes.

A VAR for cycling

Another possibility would be to incorporate tools similar to the VAR from other sports, combining images and data so that the commissioners can review certain actions before making a decision.

The intention is to achieve faster, more consistent decisions backed by all available information.

Artificial intelligence against doping

Artificial intelligence is also linked to sports integrity. One of its possible applications would be to analyze the data from the Biological Passport to detect anomalies or suspicious patterns that require more detailed investigation. This would be complemented by the development of new tools to combat technological fraud.

Beyond each specific proposal, the document shows that professional cycling is set to review some of the structures that have been considered practically unmovable for decades. How many will end up changing and how far this transformation will go will mark the coming years.