UCI Cracking Down on What Equipment Riders Can Use

Professional cycling is scrambling to figure out what the implications of the UCI’s decision about cycling equipment will mean.  Here is the NYT article on the subject..no need for me to rehash what you can read there.

The article raises a broader question about sports in general.  How much should sports be about the athlete and how much should it be about equipment?  Or maybe a better question is – is it even possible to make it completely about one or the other?

Here is my opinion, for what it is worth.  I was involved in a group bike ride a few weeks ago.  One guy showed up with a 1960’s model Raleigh Road bike.  You know the kind with the friction shifters on the down tube – heavy, scratched…  To be honest I didn’t think he would keep up with the leading group.  Well, after I watched him ride away from me on one particularly long hill, disappearing over the ridge and riding out of sight, I decided its not all about the bike.

The athlete matters, even with inferior equipment.

Having said that, if the athletes are all equal, or as close to equal as possible, the equipment can mean the difference between winning and losing.  In cycling the concern is that some teams can’t afford the equipment and testing that will allow them to be competitive with other teams.

In a sport where seconds matter, and seconds can be gained with the right equipment, having some standards that equalize the sport seem to make sense.  The way the UCI seems to be going at it doesn’t.  The racing season is well under way, the equipment has been manufactured already.  To expect teams to retool now is silly and wrong-headed.  If a change needs to be made wait until winter and give teams a chance to adjust.

What say you?