GPS Tracking to be Used at 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Push for Safer Racing

When the world’s best line up in Kigali this September for the UCI Road World Championships, every rider will be carrying a small but significant piece of tech: a GPS tracker.

It’s part of the UCI’s SafeR initiative, a broader effort to make professional road racing… well, safer. The thinking is simple enough — in the event of a crash or medical emergency, race control and medical teams can see exactly where a rider is and get help to them quickly.

Before the Championships, the system will get a test run at the Tour de Romandie Féminin on 15 August, where one rider from each team will carry the device. The trial will help fine-tune the tracking software and set protocols for sharing real-time data with commissaires and medical staff.

The move follows a series of tragedies that have shaken the sport in recent years, including the death of 18-year-old Muriel Furrer during last year’s junior World Championships in Zurich. Furrer reportedly lay unattended for over an hour with a serious head injury after a crash. Similar incidents, such as the passing of Gino Mäder at the 2023 Tour de Suisse, have kept rider safety at the forefront of cycling’s conversation.

Interestingly, race radios aren’t permitted at the World Championships, which makes GPS tracking one of the few ways organisers can maintain a direct line — albeit a digital one — to the peloton. The Tour de Suisse trialled a comparable system earlier this year, with devices that even triggered alerts when something unusual was detected.

Whether this is a small tweak or a big step forward will probably depend on how smoothly it works in competition. The UCI says it’s committed to expanding the use of this technology in coming seasons.

The 2025 UCI Road World Championships take place 21–28 September in Rwanda.