Until the UCI was ordered to suspend its planned trial of limiting gears at the Tour of Guangxi, the final WorldTour race of the season had been laced with renewed significance.
No longer just a final, desperate lurch for points from relegation-threatened teams or a plane ride halfway home for Australian riders, but the race had been poised to become a testing ground for a new gear restriction rule scientifically dismantled by Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe's Head of Engineering Dan Bigham.
Late on Thursday, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) had ordered the UCI to suspend its new “Maximum Gear Ratio Standard,” a rule that would have limited the largest gear allowed in professional road races and triggered an escalating legal dispute with drivetrain manufacturer SRAM.
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