The UCI: cycling's world governing body.

Founded in a Paris cafe in 1900

The UCI says it was founded on 14 April 1900 in Paris by the national federations of Belgium, the United States, France, Italy and Switzerland. Its own history page tells the story of that day: delegates from the continent walked out of a congress of the International Cycling Association (ICA) and set up the new body in a private room of the Cafe Cardinal.

According to the UCI, the split had two causes. British leaders favoured strict amateurism while the continental, or "Latin", federations were more open to professional sport, and there were disputes over voting power, including separate votes for Scotland and Ireland. The ICA had been founded by British cycling bodies in 1892. Britain joined the UCI in 1903, which the UCI says ended the ICA for good. The UCI names its first president as Emile de Beukelaer of Belgium.

Who founded it: the accounts differ

• How many members in 1900. The UCI says it had five. An old copy of a Wikipedia article says 30 countries were originally affiliated. The UCI's figure is the one we use for the founders.
• Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia says the Canadian Wheelmen's Association was a founding member of the UCI. The UCI names only Belgium, the United States, France, Italy and Switzerland.
• Which American body. The UCI lists the United States among its founders in 1900, before the body that became USA Cycling was organised in 1920, according to Wikipedia. The UCI's own history names the American founder as Victor Breyer, for the National Cycling Association.

Where it is and how big it is

The UCI's headquarters are in Aigle, Switzerland. Its membership changes as federations join, so every figure needs its date. The figures below are the UCI's own.

How it is governed

Member federations are grouped into five continental confederations. The UCI's September 2025 list of its Management Committee names them as the CAC (Africa), COPACI (the Americas), the ACC (Asia), the UEC (Europe) and the OCC (Oceania). The UCI's constitution requires at least one Vice-President of each gender, the UCI said in September 2025.

We could not open the current UCI constitution, so two points remain unconfirmed. A search summary of a UCI candidate-list release describes the Management Committee as the President, 11 members elected by Congress, the five continental presidents and the president of the UCI Athletes' Commission. A secondary commentary on a 2021 copy of the constitution describes the Congress, the general meeting of member federations, as the highest authority, meeting every year, with the Management Committee running the UCI under it.

Presidents and the 2025 election

David Lappartient of France was elected UCI President at the 2017 Congress in Bergen, Norway, defeating the incumbent, Brian Cookson. The UCI calls him its eleventh president.

At the 194th Congress, an elective one held in Kigali, Rwanda, during the 2025 Road World Championships, Lappartient was the only candidate and was re-elected by acclamation for a third four-year term, running to the 2029 Congress. Press reports date that Congress to 25 September 2025. The UCI says 117 national federations were represented; AllAfrica reported 115.

The four Vice-Presidents the UCI named in September 2025 were Enrico Della Casa, Amarjit Singh Gill Darshan Singh, Katerina Nash and Jose Manuel Pelaez, and Amina Lanaya was confirmed as Director General. The same Congress announced 13 world championships in ten countries for 2026 to 2032, including the 2028 Track World Championships in Asuncion, Paraguay, and the 2031 UCI Cycling World Championships in Trentino, Italy.

How the rules are organised

The UCI's Cycling Regulations are published in numbered parts. The ones these pages rely on are Part 1, General Organisation of Cycling as a Sport (we read the version on 1 July 2026), which holds licences, age categories and, in its articles 1.3.001 onwards, the equipment rules (read as quoted in the Japan Cycling Federation's copy of the UCI clarification guide, whose edition date we could not confirm); Part 2, Road Races (version on 1 July 2025); and Part 3, Track Races (the version applying from 1 January 2026, read in the Japan Cycling Federation's bilingual copy). Cyclo-cross, mountain bike, BMX and para-cycling have parts of their own. The pages on licences and categories, road races and track cycling cite the article for each rule.

Within road racing, Part 2 (2025, article 2.1.001) says the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women's WorldTour calendars are set by the Professional Cycling Council and proposed to the Management Committee for approval. For the 2026 season the UCI registered 18 UCI WorldTeams, 16 UCI ProTeams, 14 UCI Women's WorldTeams and 7 UCI Women's ProTeams. The UCI says it awarded men's and women's top-tier licences together for the first time, for a uniform three-year cycle from 2026 to 2028, and that men's licences were decided on UCI World Ranking points from 2023 to 2025 because more teams applied than there were places.

When a UCI rule is challenged

The Management Committee also decides equipment rules, and those decisions can be contested outside sport. In September 2025 it confirmed new limits on road and cyclo-cross handlebars from 1 January 2026. A separate test of a maximum gear ratio is suspended: the UCI said after its June 2026 meeting that the Brussels Court of Appeal had dismissed its appeal against the Belgian Competition Authority's decision of 9 October 2025, and that it would appeal to the Belgian Court of Cassation. As of 22 October 2026 we found no UCI gear-ratio limit in force. The detail is on the handlebars, wheels and the 2026 changes page.