UCI confirms quotas and full gender parity for LA Olympics

On Monday, the UCI released the qualification systems for all cycling events at the 2028 Olympic Games. The details, published after formal approval from the IOC, cover every discipline on the programme: road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle.

The overall structure looks a lot like Paris. Cycling will again feature 514 athletes — split evenly between men and women — preserving the gender parity introduced in 2024. The UCI also confirmed that each discipline will offer the same number of men’s and women’s places.

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Road cycling accounts for the largest share, with 180 quota spots (90 per gender) across the road races and individual time trials. Up to 35 riders will start each of the men’s and women’s time trials.

Track cycling remains the biggest single discipline in terms of events. There’s a whopping 190 places split evenly between men and women. Those quotas cover all 12 Olympic track events, from the sprints to the endurance races.
Mountain bike XCO will award 72 places — 36 per race — while BMX Racing will send 48 riders to LA, split 24–24. BMX Freestyle has the smallest field, offering 12 places per gender.

The ASO vs. IOC

Meanwhile, the Tour de France organizers will have to rejig its schedule due to conflicts with the LA Games.

In September, WielerFlits asked Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme about the scheduling conflict with the 2028 Olympics, as well as the time difference. According to the report, the Frenchman was not exactement pleased with the IOC’s decision.

“Which date the Tour will have in 2028? That is not up to us. The UCI decides that. We’ll see. Whether the Tour will fall before or after the Olympics? I have no idea,” he said. “Furthermore, it is somewhat ‘sacred’ for the Tour de France to have a stage on the French national holiday ‘Quatorze Juillet‘. In 2028, the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Los Angeles will take place on July 14.”

According to a report from Cyclingnews, the Tour may be pushed three weeks earlier to June 23. Which could also affect the start of the Giro d’Italia.