The UCI has a rule that prohibits the use of devices that capture and detect metabolic data during competition as well known by the cyclist Kristen Faulkner who two years ago was disqualified from the Strade Bianche for using a glucose sensor. Something that is now going to change with a small addition to the UCI regulations.
Until now, the use of all these sensors was forbidden in competition according to rule 1.3.006 bis that says “devices that capture other physiological data, including metabolic values such as, among others, glucose or lactate, are not authorized in competition”.
However, now we find small print just above the above paragraph that differentiates sensors and allows some: “devices that capture or transmit the following physiological data are authorized: heart rate, body temperature, sweating rate”.
Among the sensors that are allowed in competition would be, therefore, the Nix Pro hydration monitor, a device based on an adhesive patch that is placed on the skin and collects the sweat generated. A small device is connected to it that measures the accumulation of sweat and calculates the cyclist’s hydration level, transmitting this data to its own app and also to the cyclist’s computer, as the EF Education-EasyPost riders who use the Nix monitors know well.
This makes it possible to determine whether to drink more or less during the competition depending on whether sweating is higher or lower, allowing you to anticipate which reduces the risk that the cyclist suffers from dehydration that can ruin his performance in a given race.
This sensor joins another type of sensors that are becoming popular in the peloton and that would also be allowed to be used in competition. We are talking about temperature sensors such as the CORE 2 used by several World Tour teams, including Tadej Pogacar himself.
The UCI approves the use of this hydration monitor. Obviously, the question arises as to why some sensors are authorized and others are not, something on which the UCI rule does not shed any light or establish any motivation. Measurements such as the aforementioned Glucose or those being investigated to provide real-time blood lactate data will continue to be vetoed at a time when voices continue to be raised, for example, calling for the prohibition of the use of power meters in competition.