COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (BRAIN)—The national governing body USA Cycling has made several rule changes for next year that may be of interest to retailers and suppliers who serve racers.
The most notable rule affecting equipment is one requiring 12-and-under juniors to meet the same equipment rules for individual time trials as they do for road races. That means the youngsters cannot have aero bars or wheel covers and must have at least 16 spokes. These rules will apply to the 13-14 age group in 2013.
Outside of equipment, USA Cycling made a few other changes to its rule book, which officials began receiving in the mail this week.
The 30-34 age category will be removed from the Masters road and track championships due to small field sizes at recent events. Just 25 men showed up for the 30-34 national criterium championships this year, compared to more than 100 registrants in the 40-44 and 45-49 categories.
The tandem track sprint event is being removed from the national track championship calendar; the International Omnium is being added as a nationals event.
Six-to-nine year olds will able to get racing licenses. USA Cycling will sell youth licenses to kids from an actual (day of event) age of six through the racing age (their age at the end of the calendar year) of nine. Youth races will be restricted to a closed course with a circuit of five kilometers or less.
