UCI bans ice socks in skinsuits at the Tour de France

At the start of the Tour de France stage 1 team time trial in Barcelona I watched rider after rider stopped by UCI officials as they left the makeshift warm-up area behind the start ramp. They were being forced to remove any ice socks that they'd stuffed into their skinsuits.

On a day where temperatures soared past 30° C, riders were using every trick in the book to keep their core temperatures down before the start: ice vests, misting fans, alcohol sprays, a strange arm cold water tub for the Netcompany Ineos riders, as well as the oldest tactic of them all — ice socks.

For the uninitiated, these are simply pairs of tights, cut down, stuffed with ice cubes and then tied off, and riders generally put them into the back of their skinsuits behind their necks.

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Not only does the cold help to chill the rider but as the ice melts and the water then evaporates it removes heat in the process.

They are a common sight at the start of — and indeed during — almost every warm race in the calendar, but the UCI is seemingly now cracking down on their use.

"It changes the morphology of the riders' shape," the commissaire enforcing the rule explained to Cyclingnews, moments after stopping Victor Campenaerts.

“I know it’s only a little thing, but you have to draw the line. If you allow sometimes but not others, it’s not fair. And if you allow a little, riders may take more,” he said.

Indeed, article 1.3.032 of the UCI's technical regulations states: “Clothing and other items or accessories worn by a rider (including but not limited to helmets, glasses, shoes or in-race communication devices) may not modify the morphology of the rider.

"Moreover, any non-essential element which is added on (or under) or integrated in any clothing, or other item or accessory worn by a rider shall be forbidden. A non-essential element shall be any element which does not have a purpose which is exclusively of clothing or protection, or which is not strictly necessary for the functionality of the clothing, or other item or accessory. This shall also apply regarding any material or substance applied onto the skin or clothing and which is not itself an item of clothing or another item or accessory worn by a rider."

There's little doubt that a pair of tights is clothing, and that an ice sock down the back of a skinsuit can be classed as an element added under clothing, but I'm sure some would argue against the 'non-essential' part of the rule's wording, given the blistering heat on the streets of Barcelona on Saturday.

The confusion among staff and riders of various teams as they were stopped from entering the start ramp suggested it was a new rule to some of them, but Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Head of Engineering, Dan Bigham, tells Cyclingnews that it’s actually been in force for a little while. "The rules are now explicit in that it’s only a radio down the front," he explained.

Visma-Lease a Bike's head of performance equipment, Jenco Drost, concurred.

"Since last year, they're quite sharp on items under your suit."

Despite this, images from the recent Tour de Suisse – which show a few different riders with ice packs in their jerseys – suggest the rule is yet to be enforced as consistently as the UCI might like.

"It was shared in the Tour de France equipment meeting," Drost continued, "but with this weather, riders try to keep it as long as possible."

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