Is this the end for TT-style helmets in road races? UCI announces new limits on handlebar width, rim height, and fork width, and promises helmet review in equipment safety overhaul

The professional peloton’s current fixation with wearing extremely aero, time trial-style helmets in road races – looking at you, EF Education-EasyPost – could soon be under threat, after the UCI announced this week that it is planning to introduce a distinction between helmet standards used in cycling’s different events.

The new helmet rules come as part of a sweeping overhaul of the governing body’s technical regulations, featuring stricter equipment standards for handlebar width, fork width, and maximum rim height.

Buried in the middle of a mammoth statement released by the UCI on Thursday evening – which also focused on the WorldTour calendar for the next three seasons, the future of the much-discussed One Cycling project, and technological fraud – the changes were approved by the governing body’s management committee this week in Arzon, France, and designed ostensibly to deal with the “safety implications” of the increasing speed of professional races.

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The issue of safety in the peloton has dominated debate in pro cycling circles over the past year, in the wake of a 2024 road season marred by horrendous high-speed crashes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Itzulia Basque Country a week later, and the tragic deaths of Swiss junior rider Muriel Furrer and Norwegian pro André Drege during races.

Last November, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme argued that devastating mass crashes like the one at last year’s Tour of the Basque Country – which brought down Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič, and left UAE Team Emirates climber Jay Vine and two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard with serious injuries – are caused by riders “going too fast”.

Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madiot, meanwhile, pointed to Formula 1 as an example to follow in response to Prudhomme’s remarks, arguing that slowing down the increasingly aero and fast bike tech used at the highest level is key to creating a safer environment for pros who “don’t want to understand” the inherent risks they face during races.

In January, the UCI announced that it was considering introducing a range of “equipment-related solutions”, including the use of rider airbags, gear restrictions to reduce top speeds, and clamping down on narrow handlebars, in a bid to “enhance safety” during races.

And while junior gears and airbags still appear to be in the review pile, this week’s announcement will see a swathe of changes made to the rules surrounding the design of bikes and equipment.

At this week’s meeting in Arzon, the UCI’s management committee approved a number of proposals put forward by its Equipment and New Technologies Commission and based on recommendations made by SafeR, the governing body’s organisation set up to assess safety in the peloton.

“The increasing speed of races and the safety implications of developments in equipment are one of SafeR’s main areas of focus,” the UCI said.

This has been the subject of detailed consultations with teams, organisers, and riders, including the distribution of questionnaires to all professional riders and teams.”

As part of these changes, the maximum height for wheel rims used in mass start road events will be limited to 65mm from the start of 2026.

On the same date, the minimum overall width of handlebars (outside to outside) for mass start road and cyclocross events will be set at 400mm, with a max inner width of 320mm between brake levers, a change that has sparked concerns within the women’s peloton, where many smaller riders use narrower bars.

Meanwhile, track bikes for mass start events will be limited to a handlebar width of 350mm from 1 January 2027.

A new fork width limit has also been introduced, with road bikes to be restricted to a maximum internal fork width of 115 mm at the front and 145 mm at the rear from 2026, with the same cap applying to track bikes from 2027.

While these restrictions could spell the end for Team GB’s Hope Lotus track bike, which is wider than 145mm at the rear stays, it is unclear whether they will affect any road bikes currently in production – including the new groundbreaking track-inspired Factor, first unveiled at the Critérium du Dauphiné this week, the ultra-wide forks of which may already fall foul of the new regulations, though we are currently unable to confirm whether this would be the case.

When it comes to helmets, the UCI management committee approved the introduction of a distinction between helmets used in time trials (either on the road or on the track) and those used in normal road races. These new specifications for helmets will be clarified with effect from 1 January next year.

The growing use of increasingly aero helmets in road races has been much-discussed in recent weeks, particularly following Kasper Asgreen and Casper van Auden’s stage wins at the Giro d’Italia last month, both achieved while wearing time trial-style helmets.

Those victories even prompted Decathlon-AG2R sports director, and former Team Sky road captain, Luke Rowe to call on the UCI to ban the use of time trial helmets in road races during a recent edition of Geraint Thomas’ Watts Occurring podcast – a call the UCI has, surprisingly by its standards, swiftly heeded with this week’s announcement.

“The UCI Equipment Unit, in consultation with the Equipment and New Technologies Commission, will continue to work in detail on the subject of helmets, both in terms of approval procedures and specifications for the coming seasons,” the governing body said.

The UCI’s sports department has also been granted a mandate to introduce a helmet approval protocol, which will come into effect from 2027 “at the earliest”.

Elsewhere, the UCI announced that it has approved the races which will be included in the men’s and women’s WorldTour calendars for the 2026, 2027, and 2028 seasons. And while the calendar remains largely unchanged – except for the introduction of the women’s Dwars door Vlaanderen – the move has also seen the decisive rejection by the UCI of the hotly-debated One Cycling project.

Led by Visma-Lease a Bike manager Richard Plugge and attracting the support of both Flanders Classics and – crucially – the cash-splurging Saudi Arabian SURJ Sports Investment fund, One Cycling aims to rebuild cycling’s business model by bringing in external investors and overhauling how revenue is distributed in the sport, meaning teams could see more of cycling’s money.

However, the UCI’s decision – which it damningly claims is due to One Cycling’s lack of “sporting coherence” as well its incompatibility with the governing body’s rules – will prove a huge blow to the project, kicking it down the road for another three years at least.

“While welcoming the fact that road cycling is attracting new investors, the UCI Management Committee nevertheless unanimously decided, following the PCC’s [Professional Cycling Council] vote in this direction, not to respond to the request, as it stands, to include the OneCycling project in the UCI Women's WorldTour and UCI WorldTour calendars,” the governing body said.

“The project, which had been developed by certain teams and organisers, in collaboration with a sports investment fund, was deemed incompatible with the governance and regulatory framework of the UCI as well as lacking sporting coherence.

“However, the UCI wishes, as do all cycling’s stakeholders, to continue discussions with the representatives of this project in order to collaborate on the internationalisation of the UCI Women’s WorldTour and UCI WorldTour calendars and the economic development of our sport.”

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Finally, on the subject of technological fraud, the UCI said it has approved the modification of several provisions in its regulations in order to “further strengthen the fight” against motor doping.

“The objective is to encompass all actions that have the purpose of contributing to technological fraud, including any form of assistance or attempt to deceive or avoid technological fraud testing, wherever such actions may take place (not only at a competition venue),” it said.

“Modifications were also made to the procedural rules of the UCI Disciplinary Commission to ensure that it is provided with adequate investigation powers to address cases of technological fraud, which cannot be conducted in the same manner as other disciplinary matters due to their fraudulent nature.”