The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which governs professional road cycling, will allow pro riders to begin testing disc brakes this season as part of a program developed with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and other stakeholders intent on introducing disc brakes to professional road cycling in the future.
During the 2015 UCI professional road season, all teams will have the opportunity to use bikes with disc brakes at two events of their choice during August and September. The testing will continue in 2016 at all events on the UCI professional road calendar and, if the experience is satisfactory, disc brakes will be officially introduced to the UCI WorldTour in 2017. The aim is to eventually introduce disc brakes to all levels of road cycling.
“Although disc brakes have been used for around a decade in mountain biking and for the last two years in cyclo-cross, their introduction to road cycling must be carefully studied in collaboration with all those who are directly concerned," said UCI President Brian Cookson. "That includes riders, teams and manufacturers. This step is part of the UCI’s desire to encourage innovation in order to ensure cycling is even more attractive for spectators, riders, bike users and broadcasters.”
WFSGI Secretary General Robbert de Kock said the industry is delighted by the decision, which is expected to give millions of road cycling enthusiasts their most compelling reason to buy a new road bike in years.
"This decision will further develop innovation and create new possibilities for the bicycle industry as well as additional performance for the riders," said Klock. "There is still some fine tuning to do on detailed requirements for the procedure, but it is very exciting to finally have reached this decision. The remaining open topics such as neutral race support or the UCI and Teams protocol will be tackled soon."
Further information regarding detailed procedures will be communicated at a later stage.
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