With four weeks to go ahead of the Maribor World Cup, the UCI have released a statement on lifting their ban on lycra-elastane based riding kit.
Originally a gentleman’s agreement that came into effect as a UCI rule, skin suits haven’t been seen since the latter part of the first decade of the 2000s. Now that’s set to change but will teams have to scramble to design new kit in time?
Photo by Sven Martin.
The UCI has decided to relinquish the ruling banning skin suits in time for the 2019 World Champs that are due to be held in Mont Saint Anne, Canada. You might remember our article saying that the clothing was getting tighter and tighter and it seems that the UCI has seen this and decided to act on it.
‘Here at the UCI we look at the changing trends and adapt the rules accordingly. Full motocross style clothing has become an outfit of the past and the clothing is now very fitted and streamlined. As a result, we have decided to erase the rule that dictates that clothing cannot have a lycra-elastane base, specifically for the World Champs.’ Johann Bloggs, UCI Spokesman.
Everyone can remember when the Mojo/Orange team pulled the skin suits out at Fort William back in 2008 and it made a massive difference to the times then, with Chris Hutchens saying that it was out-of-control fast.
Will we see some insane top speeds and run times this year at MSA? Time will tell.
