{"id":117878,"date":"2026-04-13T12:46:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/tire-width-was-the-buzz-at-paris-roubaix-uci-checked-this-instead\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T12:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:46:34","slug":"tire-width-was-the-buzz-at-paris-roubaix-uci-checked-this-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/tire-width-was-the-buzz-at-paris-roubaix-uci-checked-this-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Tire width was the buzz at Paris-Roubaix: UCI checked this instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>The UCI reversed-engineered a gizmo to slip over the top of the mega-tires ahead of Paris-Roubaix, and they weren&#8217;t testing for width. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border-border-light border-t py-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"flex h-4 justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"\"><button class=\"inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full hover:cursor-pointer bg-bg-surface hover:bg-bg-light focus:bg-bg-dark text-primary border border-solid border-border-light aria-pressed:bg-brand-primary aria-pressed:text-text-surface py-very-tight px-base-tight gap-tight font-semibold font-utility-2 opacity-50\" aria-label=\"Loading audio\" aria-pressed=\"false\" id=\"article-listen-button\" disabled=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\" fill=\"none\" class=\"\"><title>Listen to this article<\/title><path d=\"M12.5265 16.2C12.2326 16.2 12.0122 16.1265 11.7184 16.053C11.2775 15.9061 10.9102 15.6122 10.6898 15.2449C10.4694 14.8775 10.3959 14.4367 10.5428 13.9959L11.5714 10.3959C11.6449 10.1755 11.7184 9.95509 11.8653 9.80815C12.0122 9.66121 12.1592 9.51427 12.3796 9.36733C12.6 9.29386 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10.249 4.66529 10.249C4.59182 10.249 4.51836 10.249 4.44489 10.249H4.37142C3.9306 10.3959 3.63672 10.6898 3.41631 11.0571C3.26938 11.351 3.19591 11.7184 3.26938 12.0857C3.34285 12.3061 3.34284 12.5265 3.41631 12.6735L3.71019 13.849ZM13.2612 10.3224C13.1877 10.3224 13.1877 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224C13.1143 10.3224 13.0408 10.3224 12.9673 10.3959C12.8939 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694C12.7469 10.5428 12.7469 10.6163 12.7469 10.6898L11.7184 14.2898C11.6449 14.4367 11.7184 14.5837 11.7918 14.7306C11.8653 14.8775 12.0122 14.951 12.0857 15.0245C12.3796 15.0979 12.5265 15.0979 12.7469 15.0979C12.9673 15.0979 13.1877 15.0245 13.3347 14.8775C13.5551 14.8041 13.702 14.6571 13.849 14.4367C13.9959 14.2898 14.0694 14.0694 14.1428 13.849L14.5102 12.6735C14.5837 12.5265 14.5837 12.3061 14.6571 12.1592C14.7306 11.7918 14.6571 11.4245 14.5102 11.1306C14.2898 10.7633 13.9959 10.4694 13.5551 10.3224H13.4816C13.3347 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"hidden sm:inline\">Listen<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">The UCI was doing bike checks ahead of Paris-Roubaix.<!-- --> (Photo: Andrew Hood)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Updated April 13, 2026 10:38AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The buzz in the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/tag\/paris-roubaix\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Paris-Roubaix<\/a> paddock on Sunday was all about the super-wide tires that Tadej Poga\u010dar and others were racing on.<\/p>\n<p>Teams rolled out meaty 35mm tires to ease the pain on the most brutal race of the year.<\/p>\n<p>But the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/tag\/UCI\/\" rel=\"noopener\">UCI<\/a> tech police weren\u2019t checking that, at least not directly.<\/p>\n<p><em>Velo<\/em> spotted <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uci.org\" rel=\"noopener\">UCI<\/a> commissaires doing their typical pre-race bike checks, including magnetic scans of wheels and frames to detect motors (none found) as well as measuring handlebar width and positioning.<\/p>\n<p>The UCI staff also deployed a small 3D-printed measuring tool. Bike Radar reported that the device is not yet listed on the UCI website.<\/p>\n<p>They weren\u2019t measuring tire width. They were measuring <em>tire<\/em> <em>height<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>A commissaire told <em>Velo<\/em> on Sunday that they were not checking tire width because, unlike cyclocross, there is no width limit under UCI road rules, at least not yet.<\/p>\n<p>There are rules about wheel diameter, and that\u2019s what the UCI was checking on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The official told <i>Velo <\/i>they were using the fitted chunk of plastic to indirectly check for wheel diameter compliance, limited to 700mm, including the full wheel and tire setup.<\/p>\n<p>The UCI reversed-engineered its gizmo to slip over the top of the tire.<\/p>\n<p>If the sidewall height was near the limit, officials could then do a more precise check on the complete tire and wheel diameter.<\/p>\n<p>One team source told <em>Velo<\/em> there could a ceiling on how wide tires can go. Ever wider tires would have higher sidewalls, which could, in turn, push the whole setup beyond the limit.<\/p>\n<h2>Monster tires pushing the limits<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_982538\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img alt=\"Pogacar tire Paris-Roubaix \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"502\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-982538\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_1479-720x502.jpeg?width=750&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_1479-720x502.jpeg?width=1920&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_1479-720x502.jpeg?width=1920&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Poga\u010dar rode monster 35mm tires at Paris-Roubaix. <\/span> (Photo: Andrew Hood)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Teams have been aware of new rules since the beginning of this season, and were cautious not to be caught out by surprise just minutes before the start of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The gizmo is part of the UCI enforcement toolbox.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, commissaires also used the tool to measure inward angles of brake lever hoods, first rolled out in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s part of the ever-evolving UCI arsenal to enforce rules compliance at races, a sometimes contentious tug-of-war between teams and suppliers on one side and the UCI\u2019s rules on the other.<\/p>\n<p>Visma-Lease a Bike, for example, was notified just weeks ago that it could not race with its tire pressure regulator on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Wout van Aert raced without it and still won his emotional victory despite puncturing twice during the race.<\/p>\n<p>There was plenty of chatter about riders rolling out new super-wide tires for the Hell of the North.<\/p>\n<p><em>Velo<\/em> spotted at least three teams with 35mm tire width on Sunday. Tadej Pogacar\u2019s 35mm tire width when fully inflated barely slipped inside his front fork.<\/p>\n<p>So far, no violations have been reported.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/tire-width-was-the-buzz-at-paris-roubaix-uci-was-checking-this-instead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UCI reversed-engineered a gizmo to slip over the top of the mega-tires ahead of Paris-Roubaix, and they weren&#8217;t testing for width. Listen to this articleListen The UCI was doing bike checks ahead of Paris-Roubaix. (Photo: Andrew Hood) Updated April 13, 2026 10:38AM The buzz in the Paris-Roubaix paddock on Sunday was all about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}