BRUSSELS (BRAIN) — Belgium’s Market Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down the UCI’s rule limiting the maximum gear in pro road races to a 54 x 11 ratio.
SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg called the decision “groundbreaking.”
“The Court upheld the Belgian Competition Authority's previous findings that open, transparent, objective, and non-discriminatory governance is the legal standard for rule-making in sport,” Lousberg said in a company statement.
“While the UCI framed its gearing restriction as a safety measure, the science showed it wasn't, and the process used to adopt the rule was deeply flawed,” he added in part.
Last October the Belgian Competition Authority (which handles anti-trust cases, not sports competition) ruled in SRAM’s favor, suspending the UCI rule. The BCA found that the UCI rule “amounted to a prima facie restriction of competition because it had not been adopted by means of a transparent, objective, and non-discriminatory procedure, and that there was a risk of serious and imminent harm that would be difficult to remedy, justifying such a suspension,” in the phrasing of a BCA press statement released Thursday.
The UCI appealed to the Market Court (AKA the Brussels Court of Appeal), which released its ruling Wednesday. The ruling requires the UCI to post a public statement within 24 hours clarifying that rule is no longer in effect.
According to the BCA statement, the appeals court found “In general, the Court emphasizes that norms adopted by sports federations must comply with competition law requirements when they produce economic effects and need, in such a case, to be based on transparent, objective, and non-discriminatory criteria.”
Lousberg called for the UCI to make the World Federation for the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) a full partner in its rule-making process. The WFSGI began working with industry partners in 2015 on issues including the UCI’s carbon wheel standards and Olympic sponsor rules.
“The WFSGI, as the neutral voice of the cycling industry, is the natural partner in that work alongside the teams, athletes, race organizers, and the UCI,” Lousberg said. “The door is now open, and there should be a seat for everyone willing to help build the future the sport deserves through collaboration, not exclusion. The first step is straightforward: the UCI should bring the WFSGI into rule-making as a full partner and start this reform now. SRAM is excited to get to work.”
