The team is responsible
Each licence holder and each team must ensure that any equipment they intend to use in events complies with the UCI Regulations. Commissaires may forbid equipment they consider non-compliant (article 1.3.001).
Guide · Equipment
Bike and equipment tracking for pro cycling teams
Keeping track of a pro team's equipment means knowing, for every bike, wheelset and part, what it is, its serial number, who has it and since when it has been in service. Record each item once with a barcode and serial number, register it when it is issued to a rider and when it comes back, and register what goes on the race truck.
The equipment register
Four questions about every item
A professional team works with a large stock of bikes, frames, wheels and parts, spread over riders, races and the service course. An equipment register is useful when it answers four questions quickly.
1. What is it?
The type of item (a bike, a frame, a wheelset or another part) and the details that identify it: the serial number and a barcode, so the item can be scanned rather than typed.
2. Who has it?
Which rider received the item, on which date, and when it came back. Without that history, a bike that changes hands during the season is hard to trace.
3. Is it in service?
The date an item went into service and, when it is retired, the date it went out of service. That separates current material from old stock.
4. What is on the truck?
For each race, the material that travels on the race truck. Registering it where it is loaded keeps the register in step with what is actually on the road.
UCI rules
Why the UCI rules make a register worth it
The UCI Cycling Regulations put the responsibility for equipment on riders and teams. These are the rules in Part 1, General Organisation of Cycling as a Sport (version of 1 July 2026).
Authorised equipment
The UCI runs approval protocols for road, track and cyclo-cross. Riders and teams must make sure the equipment they use is on the list of authorised equipment published by the UCI (article 1.3.001bis).
Sold to anyone, or authorised
Equipment must be of a type that is sold for use by anyone practising cycling as a sport. A prototype needs an authorisation from the UCI Equipment Unit before it is used (article 1.3.006).
In practice: when every frame and wheelset is recorded by type and serial number, with the rider who has it, it is much easier to check the material against the UCI list before the season and to show what a rider is using.
Checklist
Keeping the register reliable
A few habits that keep an equipment register trustworthy through a long season.
- Give every bike, frame and wheelset its own record, with its type, serial number and barcode.
- Record the in-service date for new material and the out-of-service date when it is retired.
- Register every issue to a rider and every return, on the day it happens.
- Check the models against the UCI list of authorised equipment before the season starts.
- Register the material that goes on the race truck for each race.
- Agree who in the staff updates the register, so it does not depend on one person.
In VelOps
Equipment in VelOps
VelOps is team management and race logistics software for professional cycling teams (men's, women's and development squads): a back office for races, selections, travel, staff and team cars, plus a rider app. Equipment sits in the same back office, linked to the same riders.
- Items with barcode, serial number and type, bikes and bike parts included
- In- and out-of-service dates per item
- Which rider received which item, and when it was returned
- A truck app that supports material registration on the race truck
FAQ
Equipment tracking: common questions
Who is responsible for a team's equipment complying with the UCI rules?
Under the UCI Cycling Regulations, each licence holder and each team is responsible for ensuring that any equipment they intend to use in events complies with the UCI Regulations. For road, riders and teams must also make sure that the equipment they use is on the list of authorised equipment published by the UCI.
Can VelOps track bikes and parts by serial number?
Yes. In VelOps each equipment item has a barcode, a serial number, a type (bikes and bike parts included) and in- and out-of-service dates.
Does VelOps show which rider has which bike?
Yes. VelOps records which rider received which item and when it was returned.
Can material be registered on the race truck?
Yes. VelOps includes a truck app that supports material registration on the race truck.
Sources
- UCI Cycling Regulations, Part 1 General Organisation of Cycling as a Sport, version of 1 July 2026: article 1.3.001 (responsibility for equipment), article 1.3.001bis (approval protocols and the list of authorised equipment) and article 1.3.006 (commercially available equipment and prototypes). Published at uci.org/regulations; consulted on 7 October 2026.
- VelOps features: the VelOps back office page.
Published 7 October 2026.
Book a demo
See your equipment in VelOps
We'll show you the equipment register, the calendars and the rider app with your own races and roles as the example, in a 30-minute demo, in person or online.
Or email us directly: info@velops.app