Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional
cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. The UCI is headquartered in
Aigle,
Switzerland. The
English translation is the
International Cycling Union.
The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules, such as in matters of
doping. The UCI also manages the classification of races and the points ranking system in various cycling disciplines including
mountain biking,
road and
track cycling, for both men and women, amateur and professional. It also oversees the World Championships — in which different countries compete instead of trade teams — in various disciplines and in different categories. The winners of these races have the right to wear a special
rainbow jersey for the following year, and have the right to wear the same rainbow pattern on their jersey collar and cuffs for the remainder of their careers.
The UCI was founded
April 14,
1900 in
Paris by the national cycling organisations of
Belgium, the
United States,
France,
Italy, and
Switzerland.
In 2004, the UCI constructed a
new 200 metre velodrome at the new
world cycling centre adjacent to its headquarters.
Presidents
From
1988 until
2004, the UCI administered the
UCI World Cup, a season-long competition incorporating all the major one-day professional road races. In
2005 this was replaced by the
UCI ProTour series which includes the
Grand Tour road cycling stage races (the
Tour de France,
Giro d'Italia and
Vuelta a España) and a wider range of other one-day and stage races.
In
mountain bike racing, the
Mountain Bike World Championships is the most important and prestigious competition each year. This includes the disciplines of cross-country, downhill and 4-cross.
The UCI
Mountain Bike World Cup is a series of races, held annually since 1991.
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Official website
