Regulation 14(d)(ii)  (the “3cm Rule”)

At the meeting of the Cycling Time Trials’ Board of directors held on Sunday 9 April 2017, photographs of competitors competing  at various events, of all abilities and gender, were viewed to gauge compliance with CTT Regulation 14(d)(ii).  It was identified that whilst all riders viewed were considered to be riding in a safe manner, there were many who were in breach of this Regulation, which is commonly referred to as the "3cm Rule".  

In revisiting this Regulation, which was first introduced in the early 1990s to discourage riders from adopting the so called "superman" position, the Board now consider that as written, the current Regulation 14(d)(ii), is no longer "fit for purpose".  

As it is not within the Board’s authority to remove or alter the Regulation without instruction from National Council, the Board agreed to introduce for the 2017 season a moratorium on applying any sanction against riders who are currently contravening this technical regulation.  The  Board do however retain the right to apply sanction if a rider is reported as using the "superman" or the ”tuck” position and/or is riding in a position considered to be unsafe.

The Cycling Time Trials’ Board will seek to present a proposal to the 2017 National Council meeting in December to either amend the current regulation 14(d)(ii) to reflect current machine design or to delete this section of regulation 14 in its entirety.