Dimitris Katsanis, a key member of British Cycling’s secret squirrel club, has been appointed as a consultant to the UCI Equipment Commission in order to review the regulations currently governing the sport.
Katsanis worked closely with Chris Boardman as member of the British Cycling technical team, dubbed the ‘secret squirrel club’, tasked with seeking out every inch of technical advantage for Team GB’s riders.
The former track racer is a composites engineering expert and the director of Metron Advanced Equipment Limited, the company which has previously built British Cycling’s bikes.
British Cycling’s multi-million pound operation has designed and developed the bikes ridden by Sir Chris Hoy and co on the track, and the time trial machine ridden to gold by Sir Bradley Wiggins at London 2012.
Wiggins’ used the custom, jet black machine, commissioned by UK Sport, instead of his then Team Sky-issue Pinarello Graal, the bike on which the Briton won both time trials en-route to Tour de France victory.
Katsanis has been brought in by UCI president Brian Cookson, the former president of British Cycling, to review the regulations currently governing the sport’s equipment. Cookson, elected to the role in September, is seeking to shake-up the sport’s dated rules.
“The UCI is in the process of modernising its technical rules and Mr Katsanis will be able to give us first-class assistance with this,” said Cookson. “We absolutely must ensure fair and safe competition but our regulations should not be rigid to the point of not allowing any technological development. It is a fine line and we are determined to get it right.”
Katsanis will work closely with the UCI Equipment Commission, according to a press release from cycling’s world governing body, which will be appointed at the next UCI Management Committee meeting in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on January 31 – February 1. Boardman was initially approached to head up the commission but rejected the role on the grounds that it would conflict with his own brand, Boardman Bikes.
Katsanis is likely to review the Lugano Charter, a 1997 document which reinforced the principal of man over machine following the technical innovations, led by Boardman and Graeme Obree, of the 1990s. The UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit, which has been in place since 2000, is among the regulations likely to come under scrutiny, with many manufacturers able to produce bikes under this mark and professional riders often forced to add additional weight to comply with the limit.
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