At the request of the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) in its meeting on March 26, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Management Committee has ruled on two important and urgent regulatory changes: the first concerning the addition of a twenty-third team in male Grand Tours, the second concerning the adjustment of current regulations on supply zones.

The UCI Steering Committee has approved the PCC's request to increase the number of teams participating in male Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta Ciclista a España) starting this year. Their number was previously limited to 22 (18 UCI WorldTeams, the top two UCI ProTeams in the previous season's UCI World Team Ranking, who receive a mandatory invitation thanks to their ranking, and two UCI ProTeams chosen by each organizer). The organizers concerned can therefore assign three wild cards.

The arguments for accepting this proposal were mainly based on the need to support second-division teams (UCI ProTeams), while allowing organizers to strengthen the lineup for their race and giving riders from additional teams the opportunity to compete in a Grand Tour.

The UCI Management Committee, while approving the unanimous request from the cycling families - adopted by the PCC on March 26 ratifying the regulatory changes presented, which will apply from April 1, 2025 - reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding sporting fairness and the primacy of sporting merit. To this end, it asks the PCC to evaluate, in the next meeting, the possibility of increasing to three the number of mandatory invitations to Grand Tours assigned based on the UCI World Team Ranking (see art. 2.1.007bis of the UCI Regulations) and to restore, starting from the 2026 season, the current number of two invitations (wild cards) left to the discretion of organizers for UCI ProTeams.

The UCI Management Committee has also approved regulatory changes related to supply zones following the first months of application of the rule that reintroduces the limitation of such zones to specific locations. Based on these first months of experience and the recommendations of SafeR - the structure dedicated to safety in male and female road cycling, which brings together representatives of all sector stakeholders - it was deemed necessary to introduce greater flexibility to allow organizers to better position these zones, and for riders and staff members (maximum three per zone) to approach them in the best possible conditions, particularly in terms of safety. Following these changes, yellow cards can be issued to prevent behaviors that cause a risk within these supply zones.

The next meeting of the UCI Management Committee will be held from June 10 to 12, 2025 in Arzon, France.